Issue 39, 2015

A pulsed uniform Laval expansion coupled with single photon ionization and mass spectrometric detection for the study of large molecular aggregates

Abstract

We report on a new instrument that allows for the investigation of weakly-bound molecular aggregates under equilibrium conditions (constant temperature and pressure). The aggregates are formed in a Laval nozzle and probed with time-of-flight mass spectrometry in the uniform postnozzle flow; i.e. in the equilibrium region of the flow. Aggregates over a very broad size range from the monomer to particle sizes of 10–20 nm can be generated and studied with this setup. Soft ionization of the aggregates is performed with single photons from a homemade vacuum ultraviolet laser. The mass spectrometric detection provides molecular-level information on the size and chemical composition of the aggregates. This new instrument is useful for a broad range of cluster studies that require well-defined conditions.

Graphical abstract: A pulsed uniform Laval expansion coupled with single photon ionization and mass spectrometric detection for the study of large molecular aggregates

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Jan 2015
Accepted
16 Mar 2015
First published
16 Mar 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2015,17, 25761-25771

Author version available

A pulsed uniform Laval expansion coupled with single photon ionization and mass spectrometric detection for the study of large molecular aggregates

B. Schläppi, J. H. Litman, J. J. Ferreiro, D. Stapfer and R. Signorell, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2015, 17, 25761 DOI: 10.1039/C5CP00061K

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