Patent ID: 7645987

Claim:
A method for producing gas phase molecules for mass spectrometry analysis, the method comprising: providing a sample of molecules on a first surface of a solid substrate, the sample of molecules including born-charge molecules each having a mass greater than 1,000 Daltons and being characterized by a charge distribution; directing an energy beam to a second surface of the solid substrate to break bonds between molecules of a material from which the solid substrate is constructed to generate acoustic waves, the energy beam having a beam fluence above an ablation threshold of the solid substrate; transferring the acoustic waves from the second surface to the first surface of the solid substrate and to the sample of molecules to desorb at least some of the molecules from the sample to form the gas phase molecules, the desorbed molecules comprising one or more of the born-charge molecules and having a charge distribution that is substantially the same as the charge distribution of the born-charge molecules before they were desorbed; and performing mass spectrometry analysis on the desorbed molecules.