RESONANT LASER-ABLATION AS A SELECTIVE METAL-ION SOURCE FOR GAS-PHASEION-MOLECULE REACTIONS

Resonant laser ablation (RLA) is used as a source to selectively gener ate multiple metal ion species fi-om the same sample. The capability o f rapidly changing metal ions for gas-phase ion chemistry studies is a significant advantage in ion-molecule chemistry. The simple experimen tal arrangement uses relatively modest laser pulse energies (less than or equal to 25 mu J/pulse) from a tunable dye laser to desorb and sel ectively ionize different metal atoms from a multicomponent sample. In turn, this allows the chemistry of several components to be investiga ted without breaking vacuum or altering the experimental geometry, Thi s work demonstrates the use of RLA as a selective source of several re agent metal ions for gas-phase ion chemistry investigations. In partic ular, the reactivity of acetone with Cr+,Fe+,Ni+, and Cu+ was examined for metal ions selectively created by RLA from a standard steel sampl e.