Elemental and Chemical Analysis for Microscopy Labs

Does your microscopy lab need elemental or chemical analysis?
Would you like to be able to perform elemental analysis without the need to polish and coat samples?
Want a faster/simpler elemental analysis technique be of interest to your lab?

If you answered yes to any/all of these questions, we have a potential solution for you.

Introducing a New Mass Spectrometry Technique – LALI-TOF-MS

Laser Ablation Laser Ionisation (LALI) meets Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (TOF-MS) resulting in LALI-TOF-MS is filling existing gaps in materials characterisation. LALI-TOF-MS is a new technology patented by EXUM Instruments.

It is the brainchild of EXUM founder Jeff Williams who, as a research student was frustrated by the limitations and complications of existing analytical techniques such as expense, complexity and time required. As such he developed LALI-TOF-MS to overcome the shortcomings of those more traditional techniques. Now, using LALI-TOF-MS, available exclusively in the MASSBOX, you can determine elemental analysis with trace element sensitivity in just minutes with almost no sample preparation using an interface that is as intuitive as a smartphone.

EXUM Instruments Massbox - LALI-TOF-MS Laser ablation laser induced time of flight mass spectrometer

LALI-TOF-MS laser ablation laser ionisation time of flight mass spectrometry schematic

What Does LALI-TOF-MS Provide?

LALI-TOF-MS provides:

Trace-level detection for virtually the entire periodic table, lithium to uranium
Quantifiable elemental mapping for measuring spatial heterogeneity with 5-200µm resolution
Depth profiling with nanometer-scale resolution

Exum’s revolutionary Massbox, the first commercial LALI-TOF-MS instrument empowers materials researchers to:

Rapidly create depth profiles without complicated sample preparation
Reliably measure important low-mass elements (e.g., lithium, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.)
Intuitively quantify trace-level elements

Example – LLZO Solid-State Electrolyte

The following image shows the maps of two major matrix elements, zirconium (Zr) and lanthanum (La). Within the wedge shape of the sample, these elements have generally high concentrations, with the
exception of several defects with lower concentrations. While this example is specific to battery materials, the technique can easily be applied to virtually any solid material.

LALI-TOF-MS for a LLZO solid-state battery electrolyte — Mapping results acquired by the Massbox on a LLZO solid-state electrolyte sample. The
analysis area is 15.7 mm by 14.5 mm with a 50-micron laser spot size. The color scale shows
relative concentration of each element with brighter colors indicating higher concentrations. The
darkest blue shows the area outside the sample’s boundaries. Dark blue areas within the sample
boundaries identify defects with very low concentrations of matrix elements, Zr and La.

LALI-TOF-MS vs Traditional Techniques

	Ease of Use	Light Elements	Metallic Elements	Sensitivity	Speed	Chemical Mapping	Quantitative
MASSBOX	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
LA-ICP-MS			○	○		○	○
ICP-MS^*			○	○			○
Inert gas fusion/combustion	◒	○			○		○
XRF	◒		○		○		◒
SEM-EDX	○	◒	○		○	◒

Introducing a New Mass Spectrometry Technique – LALI-TOF-MS

What Does LALI-TOF-MS Provide?

Example – LLZO Solid-State Electrolyte

LALI-TOF-MS vs Traditional Techniques

Sensitivity Comparison