Fragmentation molecular, from high-power lasers

At high laser powers only atomic (elemental) information is obtained, however, at lower power densities, close to threshold, molecular information can be obtained, although extensive fragmentation is frequently observed. By careful control of the initial conditions and laser energy this approach has been refined to allow even delicate biological molecules, such as proteins, to be ejected from a solid or liquid into the gas phase and ionized, without fragmentation. Indeed, this is the basis of the now well-established technique MALDI, which is described in further detail below. 

---