Figure 2

Truncated time-of-flight ion spectrum for (a) acetone and (b) ethylene glycol in a linearly polarized laser focus of 2.5 × 10¹⁴ W/cm² under identical experimental conditions. Only ions relevant to this discussion (i.e. with a mass-to-charge ratio m/z < 7) are shown. Each yield is normalized with respect to the peak value of the corresponding H⁺ yield. Note that in both spectra, no C³⁺ at m/z = 4 was observed (see corresponding inset). The higher yield for forward (early time) ion signals is caused by an extraction slit as explained in the Methods: Experimental Setup section.