Mass determination of molecules of biological interest by fast heavy ions induced desorption mass spectrometry

2014 It has been shown recently that fast heavy ions can induce a mild desorption of organic molecules deposited on a thin foil, when passing through the foil. A time of flight mass spectrometer, originally developed to identify the mass of radioactive nuclei, has been slightly transformed to allow the determination of the mass of large molecules. The desorption of the molecules is at the present time obtained by the fission fragments of a radioactive source 252Cf. Preliminary results on mass determinations and mass spectra are reported in the field of alkaloids and of nucleosides. Revue Phys. Appl.15 (1980) 1631-1637 DÉCEMBRE 1980,