从飞行时间二次离子质谱像解析航天器污染的信息

Deducing information on contamination in spacecraft from images via TOF-SIMS

飞行时间二次离子表面质谱能对航天材料上肉眼可见微量污染物实现包括元素、同位素和各种化合物在内的指纹鉴别,特别是样品量有限航天器污染成份分析的理想手段。本文重点讨论如何从带有金一次离子源的飞行时间二次离子像中提取有关航天器污染的信息。由于飞行时间二次离子质谱独具的并行质量登录能力,二次离子表面像上每一像素都储存着完整的质谱,任意质量的二次离子像都可重构。与四极和磁二次离子质谱相比,飞行时间二次离子质谱更适于复杂航天器污染物的成像分析。

The fingerprint identification of visible trace contaminants on the aerospace materials, including their elements, isotopes and compounds, can be realized by way of the surface mass spectra obtained from the Time of Flight-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry （TOF-SIMS）. It is especially suitable for the composition analysis of the contaminant which only a limited sample amount is available, Emphasizes the procedure how to deduce further the information on the contaminants from some typical secondary ion images via TOF-SIMS with gold as primary ion source. Due to the unique parallel mass registration ability of TOF-SIMS, the complete mass spectrum is stored in each and every pixel of the secondary ion surface imaging and the images of any mass can be reconstructed. Comparing with quadrupole and magnetic SIMS, TOF-SIMS is proved more suitable for imaging analysis of the complex spacecraft contaminants.