I am wondering what the function of the application of sputtered gold onto the crystallized matrix is? Does this serve to increase laser penetration into the matrix? I am a novice at MALDI theory and I just wondered what advantage it presents.
I’m wondering me too. But I don’t care: the signal intensity is many-fold higher than without sputtered gold. 😀
If anybody has a good theory … let us know.
There is a possible explanation: Surface charging.
See Alexander Scherls article for some details:
A. Scherl, C. G. Zimmermann-Ivol, J. Di Dio, A. Vaezzadeh, P.-A. Binz, M. Amez-Droz, R. Cochard, M. Gl?ckmann, D. F. Hochstrasser, Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2005, 19, 605?610. Gold coating of non-conductive membranes before matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization tandem mass spectrometric analysis prevents charging effect. 😀
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