PHOTON-STIMULATED DESORPTION OF IONS

We report photon-stimulated desorption (PSD) of ions by the same core-hole Auger-decay mechanism observed in electron-stimulated desorption (ESD). Ions desorbed by synchrotron radiation were identified by time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. The thresholds for the PSD and ESD of H+, OH+, and F+ from TiO2 are identical. The PSD excitation spectra consists of sharp peaks, compared to broad steps in ESD. PSD is shown to be a powerful surface probe with the potential of providing unique information on bonding sites. © 1979 The American Physical Society.