A contamination-insensitive probe for imaging specific biomolecules by secondary ion mass spectrometry

Imaging techniques should differentiate between specific signals, from the biomolecules of interest, and non-specific signals, from the background. We present a probe containing N-15 and N-14 isotopes in approximately equal proportion, for secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging. This probe designed for a precise biomolecule analysis is insensitive to background signals.