Sample preparation

TOF-SIMS is very surface sensitive – poorly prepared samples produce poor results! If you are interested to supply a sample, please follow these simple guidelines:

• Never touch a sample with your bare hands, always use fresh laboratory rubber gloves (nitrile) and clean tweezers.
• Cut sheet material with clean scissors and mark the side to be analysed with a permanent marker pen: put a cross in the corner.
• Never place samples inside plastic bags! The internal surfaces of almost all plastic bags are covered in siloxane release agent. This is very mobile and will contaminate your sample.
• Use fresh aluminium foil (standard kitchen foil is very clean) and place the sample onto the foil and fold the foil to make an envelope around the sample.
• Remember that the SurfaceSeer sample holder is currently suited to sheet material.
• Please provide what useful information you can about the sample, particularly if you want to send us a ‘good’ sample and a ‘bad’ sample for comparison.

Using a sheet of aluminium foil creates a very clean sample preparation area. Always use fresh gloves, clean tweezers and clean scissors.

Now the sample is prepared. You do not need to cut the material into suitable-sized samples – you can supply a larger sheet, and we will prepare the sample. Photographed against a paper sheet for clarity – but always use a fresh sheet of aluminium foil as your worktop.

Place the sample onto clean foil and fold the foil to make a clean envelope.

The finished folded foil envelope with sample inside.