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Biography
Michael Barber (November 3, 1934 – May 8, 1991) was a British chemist and mass spectrometrist best known for his invention of fast atom bombardment ionization.
Career
Barber was born just outside Manchester on November 3, 1934 and from Manchester Grammar School went to Queen's College, Oxford to study chemistry. He remained at Oxford for his PhD, which involved the design of a mass spectrometer under the supervision of John Wilfrid Linnett. In 1961 he returned to Manchester to work at the Scientific Instruments division of Associated Electrical Industries. In 1973 he took up a lectureship position at UMIST and was promoted to Professor in 1985, he remained at Manchester until his death.
The Michael Barber Centre for Collaborative Mass Spectrometry, based at Manchester University, is named in honour of him.
Fast atom bombardment
Fast atom bombardment (FAB) is a method of ionization used in mass spectrometry that uses a beam of high energy atoms strikes a surface to create ions. An energetic beam of atoms or ions will destroy an organic molecule under conditions typically used to create secondary ions. Barber realized that mixing the compound of interest with a vacuum compatible low-volatility liquid such as glycerol effectively protected the organic molecule and allowed it to be ionized and detected. The protecting liquid "matrix" allowed compounds as large as 10,000 Da molecular mass to be detected. The concept of a protecting matrix was later used in matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization.
Awards and Honours
- Royal Society of Chemistry Award for analytical chemistry and instrumentation (1979)
- Fellow of the Royal Society (1985)
- American Society for Mass Spectrometry - The Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry Award (1991)