| abstract |
An ion source generating ions by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) comprising a MALDI sample support and a solid-state the laser system generating a pulsed laser beam, which has a wavelength in the range between 332 and 342 nanometres and is spatially shaped in the solid-state laser system such that the spatial intensity distribution of the laser beam on the MALDI sample support exhibits more than one intensity peak. The optical or electro optical components for spatially shaping of the intensity of the laser beam can be lens arrays, digital optical elements (DOE), or simple masks which completely or partially absorb, reflect or scatter the laser beam at several points. The optical or electro optical components can be adjustable to create different spatial intensity distributions of the laser beam on the MALDI sample support. The desired wavelength range can be obtained by frequency doubling, tripling or quadrupling a fundamental frequency with a nonlinear optical crystal. |