Experimental techniques and terminology in gas-phase ion spectroscopy

This perspective gives an overview of the action spectroscopy methods for measurements of electronic, vibrational, and rotational spectra of mass-selected ions in the gas phase. We classify and give a short overview of the existing experimental approaches in this field. There is currently a plethora of names used for, essentially, the same techniques. Hence within this overview, we scrutinized the notations and suggested terms to be generally used. The selection was either driven by making the name unique and straightforward or the term being the most broadly used one. We believe that a simplification and a unification of the notation in ion spectroscopy can make this field better accessible for experts outside the mass spectrometry community where the applications of gas-phase action ion spectroscopy can make a large impact.

Automated summary

This perspective provides an overview of action spectroscopy methods for measuring electronic, vibrational, and rotational spectra of mass-selected ions in the gas phase. The existing experimental approaches are classified and summarized. The authors address the issue of multiple names for the same techniques and suggest using commonly used terms to simplify and unify the notation in ion spectroscopy. They believe that this can make the field more accessible to experts outside the mass spectrometry community and have a significant impact on the applications of gas-phase action ion spectroscopy.