Bringing Invisible Science to Life: New 3D Animation for Exum’s Massbox

A new 3D animation for Exum Instruments, showcasing the company’s groundbreaking Massbox® analytical technology.

Making complex technology intelligible

Exum’s Massbox is an unusually sophisticated instrument. It combines Laser Ablation Laser Ionization with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (LALI-TOF-MS), using a dual-laser approach to analyse solid materials. One laser removes material from the sample, while a second laser ionises the resulting neutral particles before the ions are analysed using time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

The instrument is designed to provide elemental analysis directly from solid materials, with applications ranging from quantitative analysis and elemental mapping to three-dimensional depth profiling. Exum states that Massbox can analyse elements across the periodic table, from lithium to uranium, while also providing spatial information about where elements are located within a material.

Visualising LALI-TOF-MS

The first laser interacts with the surface of a solid sample, generating a plume of material. A second laser then ionises neutral particles within that plume. Those ions are transported through the instrument and ultimately separated according to their mass-to-charge characteristics by the Time-of-Flight analyser.

These events occur at scales and speeds that make conventional filming impossible.

3D animation effectively removes those limitations.

The camera can travel through the Massbox architecture, following the analytical journey from sample to result. Components can be selectively revealed, transparent surfaces introduced, and otherwise invisible particles represented visually. The animation can also control time itself – slowing down a rapid physical interaction so the viewer can understand a process that would otherwise be over before it could be perceived.

The Massbox is designed to bring laboratory-grade elemental analysis closer to the point where materials are actually being developed, manufactured or investigated. The current platform is designed for rapid analysis of solid materials without the extensive preparation traditionally associated with some analytical workflows.

Its capabilities include quantitative elemental analysis, elemental mapping across areas up to 90 × 90 mm, and three-dimensional depth profiling. It’s applications include battery research, additive manufacturing, advanced materials and critical minerals.

A visual demonstration of what Massbox represents

Mass spectrometry is traditionally associated with highly specialised laboratory environments, complex instrumentation and technically demanding workflows. Exum’s proposition is different: Massbox is designed to make sophisticated elemental analysis more accessible, more immediate and closer to the point where materials are being developed and investigated.

The new 3D animation transforms an advanced piece of scientific instrumentation into a visual story, taking the viewer beyond the physical enclosure of the Massbox and into the science that makes it possible.

About Exum Instruments and Massbox

Exum Instruments develops analytical instrumentation designed to provide powerful, accessible and user-friendly chemistry at the point of need. Its Massbox platform combines Laser Ablation Laser Ionization with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry to provide elemental analysis of solid materials, including quantitative analysis, elemental mapping and depth profiling.

Explore Massbox at Exum Instruments

About Cambridge Filmworks

Cambridge Filmworks is an award-winning Cambridge-based film, video, animation and content production company. Its work spans promotional films, documentaries, scientific and technical communications, 2D and 3D animation, editing, graphics and visual effects. The company’s animation portfolio includes work for leading organisations across science, technology, healthcare and education.

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