title: Dissociation Dynamics of Molecular Ions in High dc Electric Field.
abstract: In an atom probe, molecular ions can be field evaporated from the analyzed material and, then, can dissociate under the very intense electric field close to the field emitter. In this work, field evaporation of ZnO reveals the emission of Zn2O2(2+) ions and their dissociation into ZnO(+) ions. It is shown that the repulsion between the produced ZnO(+) ions is large enough to have a measurable effect on both the ion trajectories and times of flight. Comparison with numerical simulations of the ion trajectories gives information on the lifetime of the parent ions, the energy released by the dissociation and repulsion, and also the dissociation direction. This study not only opens the way to a new method to obtain information on the behavior of molecular ions in high electric fields by using an atom probe, but also opens up the interesting perspective to apply this technique to a wide class of materials and molecules.
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Physique des Matériaux, UMR 6634 CNRS, University and INSA of Rouen, Normandie University, 76800 St. Etienne du Rouvray, France.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Blum
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Physique des Matériaux, UMR 6634 CNRS, University and INSA of Rouen, Normandie University, 76800 St. Etienne du Rouvray, France.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rigutti
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Physique des Matériaux, UMR 6634 CNRS, University and INSA of Rouen, Normandie University, 76800 St. Etienne du Rouvray, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vurpillot
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Physique des Matériaux, UMR 6634 CNRS, University and INSA of Rouen, Normandie University, 76800 St. Etienne du Rouvray, France.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vella
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Physique des Matériaux, UMR 6634 CNRS, University and INSA of Rouen, Normandie University, 76800 St. Etienne du Rouvray, France.
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gaillard
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Physique des Matériaux, UMR 6634 CNRS, University and INSA of Rouen, Normandie University, 76800 St. Etienne du Rouvray, France.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Deconihout
mesh_terms: D004560:Electricity; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D015034:Zinc Oxide