HiKE IMS MS

In this research project, the instrumental prerequisites for a detailed description of the kinetics of ion-molecule reactions in the gas phase as a function of the effective ion temperature are to be developed based on experimental investigations with a high-energy ion mobility spectrometer (HiKE-IMS) with selective ion sources. Successful performance of the experimental investigations requires that no other reactive ions are present in the HiKE-IMS in addition to the target reaction system, since reactions occurring in parallel make clear interpretation of the measurement results difficult or even impossible. Therefore, in order to generate defined ion populations, a hollow cathode ion source compatible to the HiKE-IMS is to be realized within the scope of this research project. In addition, an implementation of a laser ionization source in the ionization region of the HiKE-IMS is planned, in which the ionization of molecules is achieved by resonant multiphoton excitation. This will allow the generation of ions in a spatially and temporally very well defined region, thus varying the residence time of the generated ions in the reaction space by varying the ionization site independently of other parameters. This variation of reaction times allows the calculation of reaction rates and reaction rate constants.