IR laser resonant desorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The resonant character of the laser desorption process is proven for three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by exciting the C-H stretching mode in the 3.3 μm range with a tunable optical parametric oscillator. The ejected neutral particles are detected by UV multi-photon ionization and time-of-flight mass spectrometry.