A mechanical nanomembrane detector for time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

We describe here a new principle for ion detection in time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry in which an impinging ion packet excites mechanical vibrations in a silicon nitride (Si(3)N(4)) nanomembrane. The nanomembrane oscillations are detected by means of time-varying field emission of electrons from the mechanically oscillating nanomembrane. Ion detection is demonstrated in the MALDI-TOF analysis of proteins varying in mass from 5729 (insulin) to 150,000 (Immunoglobulin G) daltons. The detector response agrees well with the predictions of a thermomechanical model in which the impinging ion packet causes a nonuniform temperature distribution in the nanomembrane, exciting both fundamental and higher order oscillations.