Soft-landing of polyatomic ions at fluorinated self-assembled monolayer surfaces

A method of preparing modified surfaces, referred to as soft-landing, is described in which intact polyatomic ions are deposited from the gas phase into a monolayer fluorocarbon surface at room temperature. The ions are trapped in the fluorocarbon matrix for many hours. They are released, intact, upon sputtering at low or high energy or by thermal desorption, and their molecular compositions are confirmed by isotopic labeling and high-resolution mass measurements, The method is demonstrated for various silyl and pyridinium cations. Capture at the surface is favored when the ions bear bulky substituents that facilitate steric trapping in the matrix.