Lasers for MALDI-TOF
MALDI-TOF stands for matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. Typically, in MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy chemical compounds are ionized into charged molecules and the ratio of their mass to charge (m/z) is measured.
Soft ionization is the key to the MALDI technique because singly charged ions can be produced from large molecules with minimal fragmentation and negligible heating. For this reason MALDI-TOF is a widely used tool for the classification of biomolecules, such as peptides, lipids and other organic macromolecules.
Traditionally Nitrogen lasers (337 nm) have been used as a source for MALDI-TOF but more recently frequency tripled solid state lasers (355 nm) have become more common due to their reliability and lifetime.
Our Cobolt Tor Series Q-switched lasers at 355 nm offer a diffraction limited output with 2-5 ns pulse widths at 7 kHz, with pulse energies sufficient for MALDI-TOF.
Related products
Cobolt Tor™ Series
High performance Q-switched lasers
Wavelength: 355, 532 and 1064 nm
Pulse energy: 50 – 500 uJ/pulse (Single pulse – 7 kHz)
Applications: LIBS, Maldi-TOF, Micro-machining & Marking
