Abstract
Static ToF-SIMS was used to evaluate the effect of gold condensation as a sample treatment prior to analysis. The experiments were carried out with a model molecular layer (Triacontane
M
=
422.4
Da), upon atomic (In
+) and polyatomic (Bi
3
+) projectile bombardment. The results indicate that the effect of molecular ion yield improvement using gold metallization exists only under atomic projectile impact. While the quasi-molecular ion (M+Au)
+ signal can become two orders of magnitude larger than that of the deprotonated molecular ion from the pristine sample under In
+ bombardment, it barely reaches the initial intensity of (M−H)
+ when Bi
3
+ projectiles are used. The differences observed for mono- and polyatomic primary ion bombardment might be explained by differences in near-surface energy deposition, which influences the sputtering and ionization processes.