EDITOR: GEORGE H. MORRISON ASSOCiATE EDITORS: Klaus Blemann, Georges Gulochon, Theodore Kuwana, Fred Lylle EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Phone: 202-872-4570 Teletype: 710-8220 151 Executive Editor: Josephine M. Petruzzi Associate Editors: Stuart A. Borman, Rani A. George, Marcia S. Vogel Assistant Editors: Louise Voress, Mary D. Warner Production Manager: Leroy L. Corcoran Art Director: Alan Kahan Designer: Sharon Harris Wolfgang Production Editor: Gail M. Mortenson Circulation: Cynthia G. Smith Editorial Assistant, LabGuide: Joanne Mullican Journals Dept., Columbus, Ohio Associate Head: Marianne Brogan Associate Editor: Rodney L. Temos Advisory Board: Shier S. Berman, Brian S. Bidlingmeyer, Henry N. Blount, Gary D. Christian, Harry V. Drushel, Larry R. Faulkner, William R. Heineman, Harry S. Hertz, Gary M. Hieftje, Atsushi Mizuike, Erno Pungor, Melvin W. Redmond, Jr., Martin A. Rudat, Dennis Schuetzle, Charles L. Wiikins, Nicholas Winograd Instrumentation Advlsory Panel: Howard G. Barth, Richard F. Browner, Richard S. Danchik, Thomas C. Farrar, Joel M. Harris, John F. Holland, F. James Holler, Peter N. Keliher, D. Warren Vidrine. Contributing Editor, A X interface: Raymond E. Dessy The Analytlcal Approach Advisory Panel: Edward C. Dunlop, Robert A. Hofstader, Wilbur D. Shults Published by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 1155 16th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Books and Journals Divlslon Director: D. H. Michael Eowen Journals: Charles R. Bertsch Production: Elmer Pusey, Jr. Research and Development: Lorrin R. Garson Manuscript requirements are published in the January 1986 issue, page 267. Manuscripts for publication (4 copies) should be submitted to ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY at the ACS Washington address. The American Chemical Society and its editors assume no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by contributors. Views expressed in the editorials are those of the editors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the American Chemical Society.
wchemist ry Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry The rapid pace of development in analytical instrumentation and techniques in recent years has been overwhelming. Particularly dramatic has been the development of mass spectrometry, one of the most generally applicable of all the analytical tools, which provides qualitative and quantitative information about the atomic and molecular composition of inorganic and organic materials. A number of exciting new developments in one branch of mass spectrometry were reported on at the Fifth International Conference on Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS V) last October in Washington, D.C. The chairman of the Local Organizing Committee was Richard J. Colton of the Naval Research Laboratory; the chairman of the Program Committee was David S. Simons of the National Bureau of Standards. More than 300 scientists from around the world attended this important conference to share some of the advances in this powerful surface analytical tool. It was three quarters of a century ago that Sir J. J. Thomson first observed and correctly identified secondary ions emitted from ionbombarded surfaces. Thirty years ago SIMS was still a laboratory curiosity. Today it has grown into a diversified specialty field that has produced sophisticated, computer-controlled equipment. Recently, impressive advances have been made in SIMS instrumentation, particularly in primary ion beam optics, which have resulted in greatly improved lateral resolution, allowing micrometer-sized sample regions to be analyzed. Most recently, the use of liquid metal ion sources has produced lateral resolutions of 20 nm or better. Under optimum experimental conditions, in-depth concentration profiles with a depth resolution of about 2 nm have been achieved. Many schemes have been devised to make SIMS more sensitive. Of particular interest are recent efforts to use sputtered secondary neutral particles that are postionized in a discharge or by a laser beam. Steady progress has been made toward the goal of making SIMS a quantitative technique. Other significant developments reported at the conference included the emergence of ion microscopy and computerized image analysis as a powerful tool for studying elemental distribution in the surfaces of solids. The technique has great potential for studying the distribution of ions at the cellular and subcellular levels in biological specimen@. Additionally, a number of papers on SIMS applications to semiconductor, metallurgical, and geological systems further illustrated the power of the technique. While the major effort is being directed toward the study of inorganic systems, SIMS (including fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry) has become a popular method for analyzing nonvolatile and thermally labile molecules including polymers and large biomolecules such as proteins. The progress made in SIMS in recent years mirrors the development in the entire field of analytical chemistry. Generally speaking, analytical instruments are becoming more sophisticated and complex, but they are paying greater dividends of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy, as well as providing novel approaches to problems previously considered impossible to solve.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 58, NO. 1, JANUARY 1986
1
