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Title: Femtosecond Laser Mass Spectrometry and High Harmonic Spectroscopy of Xylene Isomers

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [3];  [5];  [4]; ORCiD logo [4];  [3]; ORCiD logo [6];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON (Canada); King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
  2. Univ. of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON (Canada)
  3. Imperial College London, London (United Kingdom)
  4. INRS-EMT, Varennes (Canada)
  5. Instituto de Química Fisica Rocasolano, Madrid (Spain)
  6. Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Structural isomers, molecules having the same chemical formula but with atoms bonded in different order, are hard to identify using conventional spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. They exhibit virtually indistinguishable mass spectra when ionized by electrons. Laser mass spectrometry based on photoionization of the isomers has emerged as a promising alternative but requires shaped ultrafast laser pulses. Here we use transform limited femtosecond pulses to distinguish the isomers using two methods. First, we probe doubly charged parent ions with circularly polarized light. We show that the yield of doubly charged ortho-xylene decreases while para-xylene increases over a range of laser intensities when the laser polarization is changed from linear to circular. Second, we probe high harmonic generation from randomly oriented isomer molecules subjected to an intense laser field. Here we show that the yield of high-order harmonics varies with the positioning of the methyl group in xylene isomers (ortho-, para- and meta-) and is due to differences in the strength of tunnel ionization and the overlap between the angular peaks of ionization and photo-recombination.

Research Organization:
Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-86ER13491
OSTI ID:
1500098
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, Issue 1; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Real-Time Distinguishing of the Xylene Isomers Using Photoionization and Dissociation Mass Spectra Obtained by Femtosecond Laser Mass Spectrometry (FLMS) text January 2019
Real-Time Distinguishing of the Xylene Isomers Using Photoionization and Dissociation Mass Spectra Obtained by Femtosecond Laser Mass Spectrometry (FLMS) journal July 2019
Real-Time Distinguishing of the Xylene Isomers Using Photoionization and Dissociation Mass Spectra Obtained by Femtosecond Laser Mass Spectrometry (FLMS) text January 2019

Figures / Tables (6)

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Figure 6(p. 7)figure Figure 6

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