Laser diode thermal desorption (original) (raw)

Laser diode thermal desorption (LDTD) is an ionization technique that is coupled to mass spectrometry to analyze samples with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI). It uses a laser to thermally desorb analytes that are deposited on a stainless steel sheet sample holder, called LazWell. The coupling of LDTD and APCI is considered to be a soft-ionization technique. With LDTD-APCI, it is possible to analyze samples in forensics, pharmaceuticals, environment, food and clinical studies. LDTD is suitable for small molecules between 0 and 1200 Da and some peptides such as cyclosporine.