Event
MSE Seminar Series: Christine Mahoney
Friday, March 26, 2010
1:00 p.m.
Room 2108 Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Bldg.
JoAnne Kagle
jkagle@umd.edu
Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry at NIST: From Nuclear Forensics to Drug Delivery
Presented by Christine Mahoney
Surface & Microanalysis Science Division
NIST
Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) is a surface analysis technique that is commonly utilized to obtain mass spectral information from solid sample surfaces. It can be used to obtain information about elemental, isotopic or molecular distributions both laterally (100 nm spatial resolution) and as a function of depth (1-10 nm depth resolution) with sensitivities in the ppm-ppb range. SIMS has already proven to be a useful tool in the analysis of various systems including semiconductors, geological samples, organic and polymeric materials, and biological samples.
In this talk, I will be discussing ongoing research efforts at NIST to improve the analytical capability of SIMS for various applications. Recent advancements at NIST include: (a) the ability for in-depth analysis of polymeric biomaterials utilized for drug delivery applications, (b) increased sensitivities for molecular imaging in cells, (c) the ability to characterize and depth profile samples at atmospheric pressure conditions, and (d) the utilization of multivariate statistical analysis approaches, such as principal components analysis (PCA), and other analytical methods for forensics investigations. Here I will discuss each of these projects in turn, with a focus on polymeric biomaterials characterization.