Mass Spectrometry of Liquid Aniline Aerosol Particles by IR/UV Laser Irradiation

The first results are reported from a new single-particle two-color laser time-of-flight mass spectrometer, incorporating a combination of infrared (CO(2)) and UV (excimer) laser irradiation. This combination of lasers has the capability to effectively separate the desorption or evaporation step from the ionization step, thereby greatly improving the analytical capabilities of such an instrument. The results on liquid aerosols, such as aniline, show that prior evaporation of the aerosol particle with the IR laser increases the ion signal produced by the excimer laser by more than 2 orders of magnitude. In the case of nitrobenzene aerosols, the excimer laser alone produces no ions, while a very large signal is observed when the aerosol is first irradiated with the CO(2) laser. A simple model, based on the Coulomb explosion of the ionized aerosol, is used to estimate the number of ions generated by the excimer laser (∼10(5) ions). Experimental evidence based on the observed time delay of protonated aniline parent ions indicates that the laser irradiation of the liquid aerosol results in a stable neutral plasma which separates into positive and negative charges only after a 100-500-ns delay.