Desorption/ionization on silicon

Desorption/ionization on silicon (DIOS) is a soft laser desorption method[1] used to generate gas-phase ions for mass spectrometry analysis.

DIOS has been used to analyze organic molecules, metabolites, biomolecules and peptides, and, ultimately, to image tissues and cells.

The matrix absorbs energy from the laser pulse and transfers it to the analyte, causing desorption and ionization of the sample.

This surface is not ionized by the laser, therefore creating minimal background ionization and thus allowing for the analysis of small molecules.

[9] Atmospheric pressure DIOS was shown to be an effective tool for quantitative analysis of drugs with high proton affinity.