Development of a high-performance mass spectrometer based of a broadband ultraviolet coherent light source

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24685012
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
Allocation Type	Partial Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Analytical chemistry
Research Institution	Kyushu University
Principal Investigator	ZAITSU Shin-ichi 九州大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (60423521)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
Budget Amount *help	¥26,910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥20,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥6,210,000) Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000) Fiscal Year 2013: ¥3,380,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥780,000) Fiscal Year 2012: ¥21,970,000 (Direct Cost: ¥16,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥5,070,000)
Keywords	質量分析計 / 超短パルスレーザー / 波長変換 / 紫外レーザー / 環境分析 / 質量分析器
Outline of Final Research Achievements	A light source emitting ultrashort laser pulses at wavelengths ranging from deep ultraviolet (DUV) to vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) for a high-performance laser ionization mass spectrometer has been developed. A fundamental ultrashort laser pulses at a wavelength in the near-infrared region (800 nm) were converted into broadband DUV ultrashort pulses at wavelengths of 266 nm and 200 nm through a high-order harmonies generation and four-wave mixing process using a nobel gas as a nonlinear optical medium. In addition, we determined pressure conditions and beam focusing geometries to obtain the maximum conversion efficiency for DUV and VUV, and led to a way to improve the conversion efficiency. A 160-nm radiation was successfully detected by a simple spectroscopic measurement apparatus for VUV developed in this research.