Compact two‐step laser time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer for <i>in situ</i> analyses of aromatic organics on planetary missions

Abstract

Achieving L2MS in a highly miniaturized instrument enables a powerful approach to the detection and characterization of aromatic organics in remote terrestrial and planetary applications. Tunable detection of molecular and fragment ions with high mass resolution, diagnostic of molecular structure, is possible on such a compact L2MS instrument. The selectivity of L2MS against low-mass inorganic salt interferences is a key advantage when working with unprocessed, natural samples, and a mechanism for the observed selectivity is proposed.