Desorption-ionization mass spectrometry using deposited nanostructured silicon films.

We present a method for desorption ionization on silicon based on novel column/void-network-deposited silicon thin films. A number of different peptides and proteins in the < or = 6000 Daltons range are analyzed by time-of-flight mass spectrometry in this demonstration of our approach. A variety of sample preparation conditions, including the use of chemical additives, surface treatments, and sample purification are used to show the potential of mass analysis using deposited column/void-network silicon films for high throughput proteomic screening.