The formation of singly and doubly cationized oligomers in SIMS

The cationization of sputtered organic species via metal particle adduction is investigated using poly-4-methylstyrene molecules in combination with Cu, Pd, Ag and Au substrates. Metal-cationization occurs for these four substrates. The cationized molecule yields vary with the considered substrate and they are not correlated with the metal ion yields. In addition, double cationization with two metal particles is observed with a very significant intensity for Cu, Ag and Au supports. We interpret the results with an emission scheme in which excited molecules and metal atoms recombine above the surface and decay via electron emission, thereby locking the complex in the ionic state.