A new facility at the University of Surrey will fire both water clusters and megaelectronvolt ion beams at the same sample to create 3D maps of elements and molecules at a scale smaller than a micrometre. Current imaging techniques like Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) struggle with three problems: they produce artefacts from the sample matrix, cannot simultaneously detect elements and large organic molecules, and break larger molecules into fragments. This project combines two existing ion sources—water clusters and MeV beams—in a single instrument to overcome all three limitations at once. The water cluster source boosts sensitivity for organic molecules, while the MeV beams provide elemental analysis without matrix effects. If successful, the system will give UK researchers a unique tool for label-free, non-targeted 3D imaging. In biomedical research, this could mean mapping drug distribution within a single cell or tracking metal-based cancer treatments at the sub-cellular level. For materials science, it could improve the characterisation of battery electrodes, semiconductor devices, and solar cells by revealing both elemental composition and molecular structure in the same volume. The Surrey Ion Beam Centre already operates as a national facility with a proven business model, so the new capability is designed for long-term use by both academic and industrial partners.
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Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) is widely used by industry and academia for 3D imaging of elements and molecular fragments to gain information on structure and content. With excellent spatial resolution, SIMS has enabled significant advances in the development of solar cells, semiconductor devices, batteries and biomedical research. However, SIMS still suffers from a few drawbacks, namely: (a) matrix effects, which cause artefacts in both images and depth profiles; (b) incompatible analytical conditions for the detection of elemental and molecular species; and (c) fragmentation, which precludes identification of larger organic molecules. Water cluster ion sources are a new development offering remarkable gains in sensitivity for organic molecule measurement, partially addressing limitation (c) above. Again, even this state-of-the-art system does not address limitations (a) and (b) above. This proposal will overcome these limitations by providing an internationally unique, cutting-edge capability for 3D molecular and elemental imaging at the sub-micron scale, by using both water cluster and MeV ion sources already located at the University of Surrey. This will enable more than a step-change in materials characterisation for UK academics and industry working in areas supported by EPSRC and other UKRI sponsors We will install and commission an internationally unique system in the Surrey Ion Beam Centre at the University of Surrey that will provide multimodal 3D imaging of elements and molecules at the sub-micron scale using label-free, non-targeted techniques. Specifically, the system will enable: (i) high-resolution imaging of larger molecules (ii) multimodal elemental and molecular imaging (iii) multimodal depth profiling This will be achieved by combining MeV ion beam analysis (X rays, gamma rays, backscattered particles) and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) in a single system. The Surrey Ion Beam Centre is the ideal host for this equipment, as it is not only a National Facility, but has also developed a proven business model, involving academic and industrial users, that will ensure the long term sustainable operation of the new capability. One of the main aims is to promote this added and unique capability to engage with a broader range of partners, especially those involved in health-related search and development, such as cancer treatment and drug testing.
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