IMPROVED SIMS SPECTROMETRY TECHNIQUE USING FLUORINE CATALYSIS

A method of performing Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, comprising: - Providing a specimen on a specimen holder; - Using an ion beam to irradiate a region of a surface of said specimen, thereby producing ablated specimen material; - Collecting ionized constituents of said ablated material in a mass analyzer, and sorting them according to species, further comprising: - Providing a catalytic gas proximal said region of the specimen surface during said irradiation, said gas comprising fluorine atoms. Said catalytic gas may, for example, comprise a gas-phase hydrocarbon in which at least some hydrogen atoms have been substituted by fluorine atoms, e.g. a perfluoroalkane.