Soft landing of mass-selected ions onto surfaces remains a subject of current research interest due to the demonstrated capabilities of the technique for the highly-controlled preparation of novel materials1-6. Recent efforts have indicated potential future applications of soft landing of mass-selected ions in the preparation of peptide and protein arrays for use in high-throughput biological screening7,8, separation of proteins and conformational enrichment of peptides9-12, covalent attachment of peptides to surfaces9,10,13,14, chiral enrichment of organic compounds15, electrochemical characterization of specific redox-active proteins16-18, production of thin molecular films19,20, processing of macromolecules such as graphene21 and preparation of model catalyst systems through soft landing of ionic clusters22-39, nanoparticles40-48 and organometallic complexes onto support materials19,49-56. The concept of modifying surfaces through soft landing of polyatomic ions was initially proposed by Cooks and co-workers in 197757. In the subsequent years a wide range of instrumental approaches have been developed for the controlled deposition of mass-selected ions from the gas-phase onto surfaces1,4,5. Ions have been produced through processes such as electrospray ionization (ESI)10,58,59, matrix- assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)21, electron impact ionization (EI)60,61, pulsed arc discharge62, inert gas condensation36,63, magnetron sputtering64,65, and laser vaporization25,66,67. Mass selection of gas-phase ions prior to soft landing has been achieved principally employing quadrupole mass filters58,68,69, magnetic deflection devices70, and linear ion trap instruments8,59. A particularly notable advance in ion soft landing methodology occurred recently with the successful implementation of ambient ion soft- and reactive landing by Cooks and co-workers71,72. Using these various ionization and mass-selection techniques, the interactions of hyperthermal (<100 eV) polyatomic ions with surfaces have been studied in order to better understand the factors influencing the efficiency of ion soft landing and the competing processes of reactive and unreactive scattering as well as surface induced dissociation4,73-75.
The preparation of well-defined model catalysts for research purposes has been a particularly fruitful application of soft landing of mass-selected ions25,34,35,56,76-81. In the size range of nanoscale clusters, where physical and chemical behavior does not scale linearly with cluster size, it has been demonstrated that the addition or removal of single atoms to or from clusters may drastically influence their chemical reactivity82-84. This nanoscale phenomenon, which results from quantum confinement, was demonstrated convincingly by Heiz and co-workers85 for a model catalyst consisting of soft landed clusters of eight gold atoms (Au8) supported on a defect-rich MgO surface. Several additional studies have provided evidence of the size-dependent reactivity of clusters supported on surfaces34,77,86,87. Moreover, high resolution electron microscopy images indicate that clusters containing as few as ten88 and fifty five89 atoms may be largely responsible for the superior activity of bulk-synthesized gold catalysts supported on iron oxides. Employing soft landing of mass-selected ions, it is possible to prepare stable arrays of size-selected clusters and nanoparticles that do not diffuse and agglomerate into larger structures on the surface of support materials90-92. These previous studies indicate that with continuing development, soft landing of mass-selected clusters and nanoparticles may become a versatile technique for the creation of highly active heterogeneous catalysts that exploit the emergent behavior of large numbers of identical clusters and nanoparticles in extended arrays on surfaces. These extremely well-defined systems may be used for research purposes to understand how critical parameters such as cluster size, morphology, elemental composition and surface coverage influence catalytic activity, selectivity and durability.
Organometallic complexes that are typically used in the solution-phase as homogeneous catalysts also may be immobilized on surfaces through soft landing of mass-selected ions56,80,81. Attaching ionic metal-ligand complexes to solid supports to produce hybrid organic-inorganic materials is currently an active area of research in the catalysis and surface science communities93. The overall goal is to obtain the high selectivity toward a desired product of solution-phase metal-ligand complexes while facilitating an easier separation of products from catalysts and reactants remaining in solution. In this manner, surface immobilized organometallic complexes reap the benefits of both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. Through selection of an appropriate substrate it is possible to maintain or even enhance the organic ligand environment around the active metal center while also achieving strong surface immobilization94. Self-assembled monolayer surfaces (SAMs) on gold may be terminated with a number of different functional groups and are, therefore, ideal systems to investigate the feasibility of tethering organometallic complexes to surfaces through soft landing of mass-selected ions95. Furthermore, ionization methods such as atmospheric pressure thermal desorption ionization (APTDI) have been demonstrated previously to yield gas-phase mixed-metal inorganic complexes that are not accessible through synthesis in solution96. In a similar vein, non-thermal kinetically-limited synthesis and ionization techniques such as magnetron sputtering65, gas aggregation63 and laser vaporization66 also may be coupled with ion soft landing instrumentation to provide a versatile route to novel inorganic clusters and nanoparticles supported on surfaces.
In order to evolve soft landing of mass-selected ions into a mature technology for the preparation of materials, it is critical that informative analytical methods be coupled with soft landing instrumentation to probe the chemical and physical properties of surfaces before, during and after deposition of ions. To date, a multitude of techniques have been applied for this purpose including secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS)19,97-100, temperature programmed desorption and reaction50,52, laser desorption and ionization101, pulsed molecular beam reaction102, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR and Raman)98,103,104, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy103,105, cavity ringdown spectroscopy106, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy35,107, scanning tunneling microscopy33,108-111, atomic force microscopy112-114, and transmission electron microscopy39. However, to most accurately characterize surfaces prepared or modified by ion soft landing, it is crucial that the analysis be performed in situ without exposure of the substrate to the environment in the laboratory. Previous analyses conducted in situ have provided insight into phenomena such as the reduction of ionic charge of soft landed ions over time37,38,115,116, the desorption of soft landed ions from surfaces52, the efficiency and kinetic energy dependence of ion reactive landing14,81, and the influence of size on the catalytic activity of clusters and nanoparticles deposited onto surfaces117. By way of example, in our laboratory, we have systematically studied the charge reduction kinetics of protonated peptides on the surfaces of different SAMs3. These experiments were performed with a unique soft landing instrument coupled to a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance secondary ion mass spectrometer (FT-ICR-SIMS) that enables in situ analysis of surfaces both during and after soft landing of ions97. To expand upon these analytical capabilities, another instrument was constructed that allows in situ characterization of soft landed ions on surfaces using IRRAS104. This surface-sensitive infrared technique enables bond formation and destruction processes as well as conformational changes in complex ions and surface layers to be monitored in real time both during and after soft landing12. For instance, using IRRAS it was demonstrated that ion soft landing may be used to covalently immobilize mass-selected peptides on N-hydroxysuccinimidyl ester functionalized SAMs13,14.
Herein, we illustrate the capabilities of three unique custom-built instruments located at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that are designed for in situ TOF-SIMS, FT-ICR-SIMS, and IRRAS analysis of substrates produced through soft landing of mass-selected ions onto surfaces. As a representative system, we present results for soft landing of mass-selected organometallic ruthenium tris(bipyridine) dications [Ru(bpy)3]2+ onto carboxylic acid terminated SAMs (COOH-SAMs) to prepare immobilized organometallic complexes. It is shown that in situ TOF-SIMS offers the advantages of extremely high sensitivity and large overall dynamic range which facilitates identification of low abundance species including reactive intermediates that may only be present for short periods of time on the surfaces. TOF-SIMS also provides insight into how the removal of a ligand from an organometallic ion in the gas-phase, prior to soft landing, influences its efficiency toward immobilization on surfaces and its chemical reactivity towards gaseous molecules. Complementary characterization using in situ FT-ICR-SIMS provides insights into the charge reduction, neutralization and desorption kinetics of the doubly charged ions on the surface while in situ IRRAS probes the structure of the organic ligands surrounding the charged metal centers, which may influence the electronic properties and reactivity of the immobilized ions. Collectively, we illustrate how soft landing of mass-selected ions combined with in situ analysis by SIMS and IRRAS provides insight into the interactions between well-defined species and surfaces which have implications for a broad range of scientific endeavors.