Laser-induced desorption of polyatomic molecules with a CO₂ laser

Laser-induced thermal desorption (LITD) has been increasingly employed as a tool for investigating surface processes. In LITD, a pulsed laser beam that is focused onto a surface induces a rapid temperature rise that causes desorption. In spite of the success enjoyed by the CO₂ laser in studies of diatomic molecules, its use with polyatomic molecules is shown to be severely limited by laser-induced dissociation. In desorption experiments with CH₃OH, HCOOH, CH₃NH₂ and NH₃ dissociation occurs only when the laser frequency coincides with an infrared absorption band of the molecule. Fragmentation may take place either on the surface or in the dense gas phase present above the surface during the laser pulse.