Analytical performances of the LAb-CosmOrbitrap mass spectrometer for astrobiology

Laura Selliez (1) , Christelle Briois (1) , Nathalie Carrasco (2) , Laurent Thirkell (1) , Bertrand Gaubicher (1) , Jean-Pierre Lebreton (1) , Fabrice Colin (1)

1 LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace
2 PLANETO - LATMOS

A new generation of High Resolution Mass Spectrometers (HRMS) for space exploration is being developed for several years to augment significantly the analytical performances of these instruments in extraterrestrial environments. To this day, in-flight instruments have shown mass resolving powers up to 9000 at Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) (Balsiger et al., 2007). Future instruments aim at reaching mass resolutions of a few tens of thousands to more than one hundred thousand in a mass range of a few thousands. In this frame, this paper presents results of the LAb-CosmOrbitrap, a high resolution mass spectrometer challenging to couple a laser ionization system with an Orbitrap™ cell. The mass analyzer called CosmOrbitrap is involved in a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) development. Tests have been conducted on three organic compounds to prove the relevance of this simple instrument configuration for astrobiology through a successful repeatability study in which a few tens to hundreds mass spectra have been analyzed.

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

Laura Selliez, Christelle Briois, Nathalie Carrasco, Laurent Thirkell, Bertrand Gaubicher, et al.. Analytical performances of the LAb-CosmOrbitrap mass spectrometer for astrobiology. Planetary and Space Science, 2023, 225 (January), pp.105607. ⟨10.1016/j.pss.2022.105607⟩. ⟨hal-03873501⟩