Chapter 2: Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART^®)

DART was developed in late 2002 and early 2003 and was introduced in 2005 as the first commercially available ambient ionization source. DART can be classified as a plasma-based ambient ionization source: it is a form of atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization where the initial ion formation step is Penning ionization of the analyte and/or atmospheric gases. An extraordinarily broad range of applications have been reported ranging from forensics to natural products, material characterization, pharmaceutical analysis, art conservation, food and beverage analysis, environmental investigations and consumer product safety.