Tailored nanopost arrays (NAPA) for laser desorption ionization in mass spectrometry

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10585104-B2
Application number	US-201615270440-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2016
Priority date	Apr 7, 2009
Publication date	Mar 10, 2020
Grant date	Mar 10, 2020

Abstract

The production and use of semiconducting nanopost arrays made by nanofabrication is described herein. These nanopost arrays (NAPA) provide improved laser ionization yields and controllable fragmentation with switching or modulation capabilities for mass spectrometric detection and identification of samples deposited on them.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process for making a nanopost array and sample combination for mass spectrometry analysis of the sample, comprising the steps of:
generating by computer aided design a nanopost array mask pattern arrangement having a nanopost diameter of about 50 rim to about 800 nm and a periodicity of from about 100 nm to about 1600 nm;
writing said mask pattern onto a substrate comprising silicon or semiconductor material, to produce processed areas that are covered with columnar structures having said diameter and said periodicity;
developing said columnar structures to produce columnar structures comprising a height of about 100 nm to about 2000 nm; and
depositing the sample on the columnar structures, wherein the sample is selected from the group consisting of pharmaceuticals, dyes; explosives, narcotics, polymers, single cells, small cell populations, cell cultures, tissue samples, and biomolecules.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the sample is adsorbed onto the columnar structures.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein said array adapted to be in cooperative association with a laser having a specific wavelength wherein the periodicity of the nanopost is equal to the specific wavelength of the laser.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the sample is further selected from the group consisting of pharmaceuticals, dyes, explosives or explosive residues, narcotics, polymers, biomolecules, chemical warfare agents and their signatures, peptides, metabolites, lipids, oligosaccharides, proteins and other biomolecules, synthetic organics, drugs, and toxic chemicals.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the sample is microorganisms selected from the group consisting of unicellular eukaryotes, prokaryotes and viruses.

Assignees

• Univ George Washington
• Ut Battelle Llc

Inventors

• Vertes Akos
• Walker Bennett N
• Stolee Jessica A
• Retterer Scott T

Classifications

• G01N33/4833

  of solid biological material, e.g. tissue samples, cell cultures (tissue in vivo A61B5/00; cell suspensions G01N33/48735) · CPC title

• G01N33/6851 Primary

  Methods of protein analysis involving laser desorption ionisation mass spectrometry · CPC title

• H01J49/0418 Primary

  for laser desorption, e.g. matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation [MALDI] plates or surface enhanced laser desorption/ionisation [SELDI] plates · CPC title

• H01J49/0031

  Step by step routines describing the use of the apparatus (H01J49/0081 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y02E10/52

  PV systems with concentrators · CPC title