DESORPTION OF THERMALLY LABILE ORGANIC-MOLECULES INDUCED BY KILOVOLT ELECTRONS

The observation recently made by Zubarev et al. [R.A. Zubarev, P.V. Bo nderanko, A.N. Knysh and B.V. Rozynov, Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom., 5 (1991) 32; 278) that kilovolt electrons cause desorption of thermally labile organic molecules has been confirmed by the present investigat ions. Time-of-flight mass spectra were obtained for several organic sa mples and CsI. A comparison with mass spectra obtained from the same s amples by means of the plasma desorption mass spectrometry is made. Io n yields were measured as a function of the electron energy. A possibl e desorption mechanism is proposed.