MOLECULAR-SURFACE ANALYSIS BY LASER IONIZATION OF DESORBED MOLECULES

While elemental analysis of surfaces has progressed dramatically over the past ten years, quantitative molecular surface analysis remains difficult. This is particularly true in the analysis of complex materials such as polymers and rubbers which contain a wide compliment of additives and pigments to enhance their material characteristics. For mass spectrometric analysis the difficulty is two fold. First, desorption of surface molecules must be accomplished with minimal fragmentation and collateral surface damage. Second, the desorbed molecules must be ionized for subsequent mass analysis with high efficiency and without significant cracking. This paper focuses on the second of these problems.