Soft-landing preparative mass spectrometry

Preparative mass spectrometry has become a diverse field that covers the spectrum of kinetic energy deposition. Of these methods, soft-landing mass spectrometry has many fundamental properties, which make it an advantageous technique for ion isolation and deposition. Its definition implies the preservation of ionic structural integrity after landing, which ensures the structure-function relationship of a molecule remains intact. Here the focus is on the instruments and applications of studying ion-surface landing in the hyperthermal and thermal kinetic energy regimes. Soft-landing preparative mass spectrometry covers the breadth of mass spectrometric ionization sources, instrumental configurations, and molecular families. Due to the diverse nature of soft landing, and to maximize readability, this review has been organized according to instrumental considerations and molecular families, with a discussion of theoretical work at the end.