Time-resolved imaging of the plume dynamics in infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization with a glycerol matrix

The dynamics of the expanding material plume after irradiation of a matrix sample with two different infrared (IR) lasers, an Er:YAG laser of ca. 100 ns and an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) laser system of 6 ns pulse duration, were investigated by imaging the plumes with nanosecond time resolution. Both lasers emitted at an identical wavelength of 2.94 microm. Laser exposure parameters were typical for infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (IR-MALDI-MS); glycerol was employed as a liquid matrix to provide a homogeneous sample and reproducible plume formation. A Nd:YAG laser (532 nm; 8 ns) was used as the illumination source and a CMOS camera with a ten-bit dynamic range served for recording of the images. Dark-field as well as scattered light illumination was employed to preferentially image the gaseous and particulate components of the plume, respectively. During the initial phase of its expansion (ca. 1 micros) the plume appears to consist of a continuous cloud of material of varying density. At later times after exposure, individual particles of several micrometers in size dominate the images. For both laser pulse durations material ejection was observed for times as long as 100 micros postexposure. Subtle but distinct differences in the plume dynamics are observed for the two different pulse durations. They are related to a transition between the regimes below and above acoustic confinement. The experimental findings are compared to results obtained in two previous studies by photoacoustic analysis of the desorption process and IR-laser postionization of the plume.