A miniature laser ablation time-of-flight mass spectrometer for\+i\ in situ\-i\ planetary exploration

We report the development and testing of a miniature mass spectrometer and ion source intended to be deployed on an airless planetary surface to measure the elemental and isotopic composition of rocks and soils. Our design concentrates at this stage on the proposed BepiColombo mission to the planet Mercury. The mass analyser is an axially symmetric reflectron time-of-flight design. The ion source utilizes a laser induced plasma, which is directly coupled into the mass analyser. Laser ablation gives high spatial resolution, and avoids the need for sample preparation. Our prototype instrument has a demonstrated mass resolution m/*Dm (FWHM) in excess of 600 and a predicted dynamic range of better than four orders of magnitude. Isotopic fractionation effects are found to be minor. We estimate that a flight instrument would have a mass of 500 g (including all electronics), a volume of 650 cm(super 3) and could operate on 3 W power.