Disclosed is a device to generate ions from a deposited sample, comprising: A chamber which is arranged and designed to keep the deposited sample in a conditioned environment comprising a dopant gas, A desorption device which is arranged and designed to desorb the deposited sample in the chamber using an energy burst, An ionization device which, for the purpose of ionization, is arranged and designed to irradiate the desorbed sample in the chamber using coherent electromagnetic waves or expose it to an electric discharge, a plasma, or light of an arc discharge lamp with broadband emission spectrum, which are chosen such that the dopant gas is receptive to them, and An extraction device which is arranged and designed to extract ions from the desorbed sample and transfer them into an analyzer. Disclosed is also a method which is preferably conducted on such a device.