A CRITICAL-REVIEW OF LASER PHOTOFRAGMENTATION FRAGMENT DETECTION TECHNIQUES FOR GAS-PHASE CHEMICAL-ANALYSIS

A comprehensive review of Laser Photofragmentation/Fragment Detection techniques for spectrochemical analysis is presented. The techniques i nvolve one and/or multiple lasers for both photolysis of the analyte a nd detection of the characteristic daughter photofragments. Fragment d etection is accomplished by laser-induced fluorescence, photoionizatio n, prompt emission, stimulated emission, and/or laser ionization recom bination emission techniques. Recent applications of these techniques for chemical analysis include the detection of analytes by their chara cteristic atomic and molecular fragments. Various techniques are compa red and contrasted, and future applications in analytical chemistry ar e discussed. A key to the main acronyms and abbreviations used in the text is provided in a glossary at the end of this review.