Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is a spatially resolved analytical method for characterizing solid samples. First invented in the 1960s 1, 2 , SIMS instruments have been developed along multiple lines of emphasis, with the class of magnetic sector "dynamic SIMS" instruments emphasizing high-sensitivity elemental and isotopic analyses . In the 1990s, Georges Slodzian, the inventor of SIMS, conceptualized a coaxial design that enabled dynamic SIMS with higher lateral resolution by improving the primary ion beam focusing for scanning ion imaging . Further developed by Francois Hillion and others, that design became the basis for the NanoSIMS 50 series of instruments . The key capabilities of these instruments are high mass resolving power (>9000 M/M) with high transmission (up to 25%) at high-lateral resolution (as good as 50 nm) . Five (NanoSIMS 50) or seven (NanoSIMS 50L) detectors can also be positioned for simultaneous detection to increase the fraction of ions detected from the sampled volume.