High Energy Heavy-Ion Induced Desorption (Review)

Abstract

Since the first studies on high-energy heavy-ion induced desorption were reported in 1974 [1], there has been not only considerable progress in the understanding of the mechanisms and utilization of the phenomenon of mass spectrometry but also a diversification of the general principles that has spawned “molecular” — SIMS [2], laser desorption [3] and fast atom bombardment [4]. What was for a few years a unique capability for ²⁵²Cf-plasma desorption (²⁵²Cf-PD) in the analysis of complex biomolecules is now being shared amongst these other techniques. There remain, however, some curious fundamental questions relating to mechanism and an extra incentive that in studying the dramatic action of a hundred megavolt heavy ion coursing through a matrix of biomolecules, one is observing a part of nature that is on the fringe of the fabric of accessible knowledge, that cannot be completely simulated by a million or a billion keV particles. While the source of these high-energy heavy ions was initially the fission fragments from ²⁵²Cf decay (²⁵²Cf-PD), this has now been expanded to include ion beams from nuclear accelerators that can give ions in the same mass and energy range as fission fragments [heavy-ion induced desorption (HIID)]. The added advantage is that the parameters relating to the incident ion can be controlled. Most of the fundamentals of the primary process have been obtained from these studies [5], [6].