Multiphoton ionization of ion-beam and laser desorbed molecules hom organic surfaces

The time-of-flight (TOF) distributions of neutral molecules desorbed from a surface using a pulse of ions or photons have been measured using multiphoton ionization. Pyrenebutyric acid molecules sputtered from a thick layer of this material have kinetic energies centered around 0.1 eV. Molecules ejected from a thick layer of tryptophan undergo delayed ejection when either fast ions or photons (266 nm) initiate the desorption event.