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Laser Plasma on Metal Target Surface as a Source of Vacuum UV Radiation for Ionizing Organic Molecules in Mass Spectroscopy

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Abstract

Pulsed vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation (80–180 nm) emitted by laser plasma produced on a metal target is used in mass spectrometry to ionize volatile organic compounds at atmospheric pressure. The parameters of light emitted by the laser plasma generated by a pulsed Nd:YAG laser radiation at a wavelength of 1064 nm, power density of about 70 GW/cm2, and pulse energy of 250 µJ have been determined using emission spectroscopy. During the first several nanoseconds, the plasma emission spectrum does not contain any pronounced spectral lines and can be described as the emission spectrum of a blackbody with a temperature of 5.5 × 104–105 K (the temperature depends on the ambient gas pressure). This radiation provides ionization of water, oxygen, and nitrogen molecules, as well as argon atoms. It is shown that the mechanisms of ionization of organic compounds under VUV irradiation in argon are based on the reaction of proton transfer from ionized water molecules and reactions of organic compounds with oxygen ions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    V. I. Fabelinsky, A. B. Bukharina, A. V. Pento, B. G. Sartakov, R. S. Ablizen & Ya. O. Simanovsky

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  1. V. I. Fabelinsky
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  2. A. B. Bukharina
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  3. A. V. Pento
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Correspondence to A. V. Pento.

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Translated by Yu. Sin’kov

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Fabelinsky, V.I., Bukharina, A.B., Pento, A.V. et al. Laser Plasma on Metal Target Surface as a Source of Vacuum UV Radiation for Ionizing Organic Molecules in Mass Spectroscopy. Phys. Wave Phen. 29, 210–220 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1541308X21030043

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S1541308X21030043

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