Text
Aerosol nanoparticle injectors are important for experiments on isolated nanoparticles in a carrier gas. We show how this gas interacts with an intense near infrared laser pulse. Field ionisation opens up a plasma channel behind the laser pulse through a Coulomb explosion of the created underdense plasma channel. The results can be used to estimate gas background in experiments and open up opportunities for studies on electron and ion dynamics in nanoparticles surrounded by a low-density gas.
Description
Ion time-of-flight (ToF) traces (vertically offset for clarity) of NIR laser-irradiated gas injected through the injector at different entrance pressures of the aerodynamic lens stack (ALS). Laser wavelength: 800 nm, pulse duration: 120 fs, peak intensity: 9 × 1015 Wcm−2, distance from the ALS tip: 11 mm. (a) Argon. Bottom line (black) shows a reference trace when chamber was back-filled with argon (injector not used). (b) Helium. ALS entrance pressure in mbar is shown next to each ToF trace.
Contact: Prof. Maria Krikunova
Collaborating institutions: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Uppsala University, Sweden, Institut für Optik und Atomare Physik at Technische Universität Berlin, Germany