title: All-solid-state deep ultraviolet laser for single-photon ionization mass spectrometry.
abstract: We report here the development of a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer utilizing single-photon ionization based on an all-solid-state deep ultraviolet (DUV) laser system. The DUV laser was achieved from the second harmonic generation using a novel nonlinear optical crystal KBe2BO3F2 under the condition of high-purity N2 purging. The unique property of this laser system (177.3-nm wavelength, 15.5-ps pulse duration, and small pulse energy at ∼15 μJ) bears a transient low power density but a high single-photon energy up to 7 eV, allowing for ionization of chemicals, especially organic compounds free of fragmentation. Taking this advantage, we have designed both pulsed nanospray and thermal evaporation sources to form supersonic expansion molecular beams for DUV single-photon ionization mass spectrometry (DUV-SPI-MS). Several aromatic amine compounds have been tested revealing the fragmentation-free performance of the DUV-SPI-MS instrument, enabling applications to identify chemicals from an unknown mixture.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Chengqian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Xianhu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Chenghui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Hanyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Meiye
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Yishi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Zhixun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Hongbing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Jiannian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yao