Tabletop Femtosecond VUV Photoionization and PEPICO Detection of Microreactor Pyrolysis Products.

We report the combination of tabletop vacuum ultraviolet photoionization with photoion-photoelectron coincidence spectroscopy for sensitive, isomer-specific detection of nascent products from a pyrolysis microreactor. Results on several molecules demonstrate two essential capabilities that are very straightforward to implement: the ability to differentiate isomers and the ability to distinguish thermal products from dissociative ionization. Here, vacuum ultraviolet light is derived from a commercial tabletop femtosecond laser system, allowing data to be collected at 10 kHz; this high repetition rate is critical for coincidence techniques.