Delayed extraction time-of-flight mass spectrometer with electron impact for PAH studies

A time-of-flight (ToF) mass spectrometer with a pulsed electron beam as well as pulsed extraction of the recoil ions, with variable delay is reported. The effectiveness of this technique is highlighted by studying the statistical decay of mono-cations over microsecond time scales. Various details of the design and operation are discussed in the context of electron impact ionization and fragmentation of naphthalene (C10H8). The temporal behavior of acetylene (C2H2) and diacetylene (C4H2) loss is observed and compared with the associated Arrhenius decay constant, internal energy and plasmon excitation energy.