Nanophotonic production, modulation and switching of ions by silicon microcolumn arrays

摘要

The production and use of silicon microcolumn arrays that harvest light from a laser pulse to produce ions are described. The systems of the present invention seem to behave like a quasi-periodic antenna array with ion yields that show profound dependence on the plane of laser light polarization and the angle of incidence. By providing photonic ion sources, this enables enhanced control of ion production on a micro/nano scale and direct integration with miniaturized analytical devices.