Photodissociation of ion‒molecule complexes studied by selected‒ion velocity map imaging

A new time-of-flight mass spectrometer for velocity map imaging studies of the photodissociation of mass-selected ions has been constructed. The data provide new insights into the binding energies and photodissociation dynamics of these systems that are not accessible by other experimental techniques. While velocity map imaging is a well-established technique for studying the photodissociation of neutral molecules, it has only been applied to the photochemistry of ionic systems that can be produced by photoionization. However, the velocity map imaging experiment is ideally suited for our pulsed laser vaporization and electrical discharge ion sources, and therefore the incorporation of this technique into our time-of-flight mass spectrometer opens up new opportunities for studying the photodissociation dynamics of a variety of ionic systems easily produced in our lab.