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Evidence for the formation of dynamically created pre‐formed ions at the interface of isotopically enriched thin films
Author(s) -
Lerach Jordan O.,
Winograd Nicholas
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.5102
Subject(s) - ion , chemistry , molecule , ionization , thin film , chemical physics , analytical chemistry (journal) , materials science , nanotechnology , organic chemistry
A novel approach to elucidate the ionization mechanism for the [M + H] + molecular ion of organic molecules is investigated by molecular depth profiling of isotopically enriched thin films. Using a model bi‐layer film of phenylalanine (PHE) and PHE‐D 8, the results show formation of an [M + D] + molecular ion for the non‐enriched PHE molecule attributed to rearrangements of chemical damage due to successive primary ion impacts. The [M + D] + ion is observed at the interface for 19.9 nm in the enriched‐on‐top system and 9.9 nm for the enriched‐on‐bottom system. This ion formation is direct evidence for dynamically created pre‐formed ions as a result of chemical damage rearrangement induced by previous primary ion bombardment events. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.