The 23rd secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS 23) conference was held in Minneapolis, MN, from 18 – 23 September 2022.
The biennial event is a forum for colleagues from academic, industrial, and national laboratories worldwide to exchange results and new ideas on Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry and related techniques.
The banquet dinner was held on Wednesday of the conference week and was an opportunity for the attendees to relax, network, and catch up with old friends.
The dinner also hosted the Rowland Hill Awards. Rowland Hill was a founder and former managing director of Ionoptika, who sadly passed away in 2015. Ionoptika established the Rowland Hill Awards in his honour to recognise excellence in SIMS research and to promote young and early career researchers.
The winners of this year’s awards were Karolin Bomhardt and Svenja-Katharina Otto, both of Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Alfred Fransson of the University of Gothenburg, and Matija Lagator, of the University of Manchester.
Many congratulations to all the winners!
Winners of the Rowland Hill Awards 2022, from left to right: Alfred Fransson, Karolin Bomhardt, Matija Lagator, and Svenja-Katharina Otto. Also pictured are Greg Fisher (Physical Electronics) and Anna Belu (Medtronic). Images are courtesy of Heather Korff/AVS.
For a list of all upcoming conferences, shows, and exhibits, see our Events page.
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In a landmark publication, Tian et al. demonstrate the feasibility of combined GCIB/C60 SIMS imaging for multi-omics profiling in the same tissue section at the single-cell level.
A new approach
Multi-omics data are vital to understanding normal regulatory processes and are essential for designing new anti-cancer modalities. Unfortunately, sample preparation methods between different omics are typically incompatible. As such, it is nearly impossible to correlate multiple omics profiles within the same sample, let alone their spatial co-localisation at the single-cell level.
The new approach developed by Tian et al. thus represents a significant leap forward.
The study, reported in the journal Analytical Chemistry, uses a multimodal approach using the J105 SIMS to correlate different cell types. First, water cluster SIMS maps the lipids and metabolites in individual cells. Then, multiplexed SIMS imaging with a high-resolution C60 beam maps the same tissue section stained by lanthanide tagged antibodies.
Multiplexed SIMS imaging involves linking specific lanthanide isotopes to antibodies and applying them to the tissue. Subsequent SIMS imaging of the lanthanides maps multiple cellular epitopes at sub-cellular resolution.
The combined approach of water cluster SIMS plus multiplexed ion beam imaging on the same tissue section enables mapping lipids, proteins, and metabolites at the single-cell level.
High-resolution multi-omics
Cryogenic water cluster SIMS was conducted on the J105 SIMS at 1.6-micron beam spot size on fresh frozen sections of invasive ductal carcinoma/ductal carcinoma in situ (IDC/DCIS) tissue. This analysis was followed by staining with lanthanide-tagged antibodies on the same frozen-hydrated tissue and imaging the same region using a C60 beam with a 1.1 µm spot size.
Workflow schematic. The frozen-hydrated IDC/DCIS sample is first analysed using water cluster SIMS with a 1.6 µm spot size. The sample is then stained with lanthanide-tagged antibodies and imaged with C60-SIMS with a 1.1 µm spot size. Image reproduced from Anal. Chem. 2021, 93, 23, 8143-8151.
The first results
Water cluster SIMS revealed the distributions and intensities of more than 150 lipids and important metabolites up to m/z 2000. HCA analysis revealed considerable variation between the location of cluster SIMS identified ions and the nine C60-SIMS cell markers.
This work represents the first successful attempt to profile proteins, lipids, and metabolites on the same tissue at the single-cell level. GCIB-SIMS, especially water clusters, has demonstrated its unique ability to detect lipids and metabolites in biological samples at unprecedented resolutions.
Using a combined SIMS imaging approach enables the correlation of different cell types with their metabolic and lipidomic status. It offers valuable information about proteins, lipids, and metabolites on the same sample and at the same resolution.
The J105 SIMS provides a unique platform for this multimodal SIMS approach. The only instrument to offer water cluster SIMS plus multiplexed ion beam imaging, the J105 also provides high mass accuracy and tandem MS capabilities for accurate ion assignment.
Ionoptika Ltd and the University of Surrey have been awarded project grants worth a total of £425,000.00 from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, to expand their research into new manufacturing technologies for quantum devices.
Quantum technologies are expected to create impact across multiple sectors from more secure online communications to personalised medicine. However, to date only a handful of companies, such as IBM and Google, have successfully built a basic quantum computer because of the extreme challenges to manufacture and operate these devices. This new Innovate grant will open up new scalable manufacturing methods to researchers in the UK and around the world.
The project, entitled “Rapid and Scalable Single Colour-Centre Implantation for Single Photon Sources”, was recommended for funding by a panel of independent assessors, who concluded that “This is an innovative project by two expert partners. If it is successful, it will lead to a unique product that may possibly revolutionise quantum computing.”
Ionoptika Ltd, together with the University of Surrey, will use beams of ionised atoms to create quantum devices one at a time using rare earth elements such as erbium and ytterbium. Ion beams are used widely in the scientific and manufacturing sectors, from the production of computer chips to medical diagnostic instrumentation and cancer treatment.
The technique, known as ion implantation, has been used for decades to make modern computer chips and benefits from being much quicker than other manufacturing methods. The main limitation of the technique for quantum applications has been the inability to precisely control the location and numbers of implanted ions at the single-ion level. The new tool from Ionoptika, called Q-One, solves this problem yet is still fast enough to implant one thousand quantum bits (qubits) every second.
The funding comes on the back of $1.3bn in UK government funding allocated for quantum technologies research.1 It is expected to help Ionoptika expand, creating 20+ highly skilled STEM jobs in the Southampton area over the next 5-10 years, and injecting £6m+ into the UK engineering supply chain.
Paul Blenkinsopp, Managing Director at Ionoptika, commented, “Quantum technologies are set to drive the next generation of innovation and technologies. Ionoptika is delighted to be working with the University of Surrey on developing the tools and infrastructure that will be needed to realise many of these exciting quantum applications.”
Dr David Cox, from the University of Surrey, added, “The University of Surrey through the National Ion Beam Centre is delighted to work on this project with Ionoptika. The ability to precisely control the implantation of ions at the single-atom level offers enormous potential to the newly emerging quantum technologies that are set to revolutionise the world.”
Ionoptika, a UK SME based in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire, has driven innovation in scientific instrumentation for 27 years. Manufacturing state-of-the-art ion beam systems for labs around the world, they have contributed to research from fields as diverse as cancer research to quantum computers. For more information visit www.ionoptika.com.
Ionoptika have installed a prototype mass spec instrument at the University of Oxford, marking an exciting development milestone in this project. The prototype, which is a collaboration between the Rosalind Franklin Institute, the University of Oxford, and Ionoptika, is a new design of stigmatic imaging mass spectrometer.
The first stage of this project took place at Ionoptika’s headquarters near Southampton, where this unique instrument was built and tested. Researchers at the University of Oxford will now begin initial characterization and alignment of the primary ion beam, before the addition of extraction optics and high speed stigmatic detectors.
The prototype installed at the University of Oxford
The stigmatic imaging SIMS instrument will enable rapid molecular mapping of biological tissues at unprecedented speed, as this type of mass spectrometry imaging decouples acquisition time from spatial resolution. Typically mass spectrometry imaging, such as the J105 SIMS, scans across a surface taking a mass spectrum at each spot to build up the pixels of the image.
In this case, however, the whole surface is imaged simultaneously using state of the art cameras that operate as an array of position and time sensitive detectors that record a mass spectrum for each pixel in the camera image. It therefore represents a promising route to attaining higher throughput.
The Rosalind Franklin Institute is a new national institute, funded by the UK government through UK Research and Innovation, dedicated to bringing about transformative changes in life science through interdisciplinary research and technology development. The work is focused into five complementary themes including a Biological Mass Spectrometry theme, of which this new prototype is a part.
Ionoptika offers custom vacuum instrumentation and ion beam systems for a range of applications, including vacuum chambers, sample handling and load-locks, cameras, and secondary electron imaging, as well as our range of ion beams. If you have a project in mind and would like a no obligation quote, get in touch via our Contact Page and we would be delighted to discuss it with you.
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We are happy to announce the release of Analyse v2.0.2.15 for all J105 SIMS customers. This long awaited release brings with it a host of new features as well as several bug fixes. Chief among the new features is a new imzML file converter. To download the new release, simply go to our downloads page and click on the link.
On Thursday, in collaboration with UCVAC, we held a webinar on the GCIB 10S Gas Cluster Ion Beam for potential customers in China. The webinar was a great success, and we will certainly look to use this format again to connect with potential customers around the world, particularly while travel restrictions remain in place.
IONOPTIKA recently authorized UCVAC as its sole agent in mainland China and Hong Kong. With extensive experience in the surface science markets, UCVAC are well placed to assist business development and provide technical support in the region. We look forward to working together, and this webinar was a fantastic way to kick things off.
The GCIB 10S is a high-performance gas cluster ion beam that delivers rapid, low-damage sputtering for superior quality surface analysis. An ideal upgrade for a variety of instruments, such as XPS, SEM, SPM, and SIMS, the GCIB 10S brings many powerful advantages in an economical, low-maintenance package.
Ultra-low-energy sputtering by argon cluster ions helps to efficiently remove material while producing very low damage and minimal loss of chemical information, leaving a pristine surface for analysis. Removing just a few nanometres per cycle, the GCIB 10S is the ideal tool for achieving ultra-high-resolution depth profile analysis.
If you missed it live, you can watch the full webinar below.
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Ionoptika has joined forces with 14 partners from public research and 3 other SMEs for the RADIATE project, exchanging experience and best practice examples in order to structure the European Research Area of ion technology application.
Besides further developing ion beam technology and strengthening the cooperation between European ion beam infrastructures, RADIATE is committed to providing easy, flexible and efficient access for researchers from academia and industry to the participating ion beam facilities. About 15,800 hours of transnational access in total is going to be offered free of charge to users who successfully underwent the RADIATE proposal procedure.
Joint research activities and workshops aim to strengthen Europe’s leading role in ion beam science and technology. The collaboration with industrial partners will tackle specific challenges for major advances across multiple subfields of ion beam science and technology.
RADIATE aims to attract new users from a variety of research fields, who are not yet acquainted with ion beam techniques in their research, and introduce them to ion beam technology and its applicability to their field of research. New users will be given extensive support and training.
The project is monitored by an External Advisory Board for quality assurance and guidance. Users with accepted proposals for RADIATE’s transnational access program are selected by an external user selection panel to ensure an unbiased and fair selection process.
RADIATE is building on the achievements of SPIRIT (Support of Public and Industrial Research using Ion Beam Technology), a previous EU funded project coordinated by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). SPIRIT ran from 2009 to 2013 and united 7 European ion beam centers and 4 research providers.
To learn more about RADIATE or to get involved, please visit the website.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 824096
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The J105 SIMS is a state-of-the-art 3D imaging ToF SIMS that delivers class-leading sensitivity with exceptional imaging and mass spectrometry performance. Combining innovative design and cutting-edge science with a comprehensive list of features, the J105 redefines what ToF SIMS can do.
Rapid high-resolution 2D and 3D molecular imaging.
Consistent mass accuracy and mass resolution across all samples, independent of sample height.
Unrivalled sensitivity and imaging MS performance with Ionoptika’s patented Water Source.
Range of high-performance ion beams to suit every application.
High-mass accuracy and tandem MS for accurate peak assignment.
Full cryo-sample handling capabilities.
The J105 at a glance
With a host of exciting features, the J105 is the ideal tool for a range of applications.
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Water Cluster Source
Water Cluster upgrade for GCIBs.
Increase secondary ion yield by up to 500x compared with Ar gas.
Greatly reduced fragmentation and very low surface damage.
Image low abundance analytes with unprecedented clarity at resolutions down to 1.5 μm
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Choice of Ion Beams
Choose up to 3 different primary ion beams, covering a wide range of applications and budgets.
The J105’s unique design allows any ion beam to be used without impacting performance.
Gas cluster ion beams for analysis of biological samples to 1.5 m resolution.
C60 cluster beam for the best of both worlds – low fragmentation and small spot size.
Gold cluster beam for very small spot size and elemental analysis.
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Specialist Analysis Software
Analysis built around imaging, with real-time spectral/image scanning.
Quickly identify patterns within the data, find related peaks, and make tentative assignments.
Fast image mode – view even large data sets on a laptop.
Convenient export tools for common data formats such as HDF5 and imzML.
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Cryo Sample Handling
Liquid nitrogen cooling available as standard.
Maintain temperatures down to 100 K at both main sample stage and the sample insertion lock.
Full stage mobility even at 100 K for large-area tiled analysis.
New ultra-low humidity glove box available for air/water sensitive samples.
Easily integrates into the cryo-workflow for sensitive biological and materials analysis.
Accommodates samples up to 6 mm in height.
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Tandem MS Mode
For definitive peak assignment, tandem MS mode is included as standard.
Select the parent ion of interest and fragment it in a high-energy collision cell, producing a characteristic fragment spectrum.
Combined with consistent high mass accuracy and mass resolution, the J105 provides all the tools to make accurate assignments with confidence.
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Unique Analyser
The unique buncher-ToF analyser delivers high mass resolution no matter what ion beam is in use.
High mass accuracy (< 5 ppm) is maintained across all points on a sample, even on very rough samples.
Transmission is maintained even on highly curved surfaces.
Gives you confidence in the raw data, making analysis faster and easier.
Obtain high-resolution 3D chemical images without running a “sputter-only” cycle ever again! Thanks to the unique combination of high-performance cluster ion beams and innovative buncher-ToF analyser, analysis and low-damage etching on the J105 occur simultaneously. As cluster beams are used for analysis, “sputter-only” cycles are not needed and every layer is analysed, making the J105 SIMS an extremely accurate tool for 3D imaging and depth profile analysis.
Pioneer is a state-of-the-art tool for deterministic ion implantation with nanoscale precision, which combines a high-resolution mass-filtered focused ion beam and nano-precision stage with a high-sensitivity detector array. The tool is anticipated to be at the forefront of research and innovation in areas as diverse as memory devices and quantum technologies.
Pioneer features a mass-filtered ion column, with a 20nm spot size, and operates at up to 30kV. This enables incredibly accurate placement of ions within the substrate, subject to scatter.
Two versions of the ion source are available: a liquid metal source and a duoplasmatron, giving you access to a large number of dopant ions.
Deterministic ion implantation
Detection of implant events is critical to deterministic ion implantation. Up to four high-gain, low-noise detectors enable high-efficiency detection of secondary particles (both ions and electrons), offering detection efficiency of better than 85%.
Nanometer precision stage
The stage is a piezo-driven precision stage, with optical encoders with 1nm precision, and is capable of handling up to a 6-inch wafer. There is also a load lock for fast sample insertion and optical cameras for precision alignment.
Proprietary software
Pioneer is completely software driven, and includes implantation UI, SED imaging, vacuum control and monitoring, stage control, and sample transfer. The software is designed to enable fully automated, overnight operation (for high-noise environments). It also offers alignment to pre-defined sample marks, with better than 20nm accuracy.
High-vacuum system
A 6-inch wafer carrying load-lock enables fast sample insertion while maintaining a consistent high-vacuum in the chamber (< 1x10-8 mbar), while a gate valve on the ion column protects the chamber vacuum and allows sources to be swapped quickly.
High-resolution electron column
A 20nm electron beam is available for high resolution imaging.
Applications of Pioneer
In addition to precision ion implantation at the nanoscale, pioneer can also achieve deterministic single-ion implantation. This means that the instrument provides a versatile platform for doping and implantation with both multiple- and single-ion species. The versatility of pioneer is expected to create an invaluable resource in application areas such as:
Quantum Technologies
Quantum Device Fabrication
Nano-material Doping
Photonic systems
Memory Devices
Installations
SIMPLE
Ionoptika Ltd installed the first two instrument of its kind at the Surrey Ion Beam Centre in 2018, as part of the Single Ion Multi-species Positioning at Low Energy (SIMPLE) project. Read more about this exciting project here.
P-NAME
Ionoptika Ltd is delighted that our Pioneer system features at the heart of the new PLATFORM FOR NANOSCALE ADVANCED MATERIALS ENGINEERING (P-NAME) at the Henry Royce Institute, Manchester.
High-resolution, low-current ion column for precise placement of ions
Liquid metal or duoplasmatron ion source
Wide range of available dopant ions
Nano-precision stage with up to 6-inch wafer handling capability
Deterministic ion implantation detection system
High-resolution electron column available for non-destructive imaging
July 10th 2018 — A new single ion implantation tool is launched at the UK National Ion Beam Centre. Part of a 3 year project between Ionoptika and the University of Surrey and funded by the EPSRC, the new instrument will enable researchers to create new quantum devices faster than ever before.
The instrument, named SIMPLE (Single Ion Multi-species Positioning at Low Energy), was launched during the 16th International Conference on Nuclear Microprobe Technology and Applications (ICNMTA2018) held at the University of Surrey (click here to read the press release).
SIMPLE instrument installed at Surrey Ion Beam Centre | Photo courtesy Nathan Cassidy.
Quantum Technology
Quantum mechanics – that fascinating and sometimes bizarre theory governing the world of the very small – has enormous potential to revolutionize many aspects of modern technology. More secure digital communication, “quantum safe” cryptography methods, more accurate time measurements, and faster, more powerful computers are all thought possible.
Quantum computers in particular are an exciting prospect — it’s expected that they will be capable of solving problems not currently feasible even by our most powerful super computers. Actually building a quantum computer, however, remains an hugely ambitious challenge.
One design for a quantum bit, or qubit – the basic building block of a quantum computer – was put forward by Bruce Kane in 1998. It involves embedding pairs of donor atoms, such as phosphorous, very close to one another (~ 20 nm) within a silicon lattice. Known as electron-mediated nuclear spin coupling, the idea has been successfully utilized by researchers to fabricate individual qubits.
Schematic of Kane’s proposed electron-mediated nuclear spin coupling qubit device.
Using a scanning tunneling microscope, researchers carefully placed individual P atoms using an atomically sharp tip and by stimulating chemical reactions on an atom-by-atom basis. An incredibly intricate technique, it can take several days of meticulous preparation to create just a single qubit. A remarkable feat, however a faster, more scalable method is clearly required.
Single Ion Implantation
The SIMPLE project was established with this objective – to develop an instrument platform for the reliable fabrication of arrays of qubits, with high speed and high precision, using single-ion implantation.
A well established technique in the semiconductor industry, the principles of large-scale ion implantation can be applied to implant individual ions when the parameters are very carefully controlled. Leveraging Ionoptika’s expertise in ion beam design and detection, an instrument platform was designed that is capable of producing an array of millions of implanted ions in just a fraction of a second.
The need for new quantum fabrication technologies
The instrument comprises a highly focused, sub-20 nm mass-filtered ion column, a nano-precision stage, and high-sensitivity single ion implantation detection system. While detecting single ion events with high enough consistency for wide scale production remains a challenge, progress in this area has been encouraging, and confidence is high that this goal will be met. And when it is, it will mark a world first, and will usher in a new era of quantum computing.
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Ionoptika are delighted to announce we are sponsoring the 7th Chinese National Conference on Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS-China VII), which will be held from 9-12th October, 2018, at the Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics (SINANO), Chinese Academy of Sciences in Suzhou, China. The conference aims to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on recent advances in SIMS. We look forward to seeing you there!
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