Mass spectrometer
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorsFrank T. Hartley, Steven J. Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotating field mass spectrometer includes an ionizing structure having a pair of conductive electrodes located closer to one another than the mean free path of the gas being ionized, and a rotating field mass spectrometer part for analyzing ions produced by the ionizing structure. The membrane may include a supporting portion, and a relatively thin non-supporting portion where the ions are formed.
Claims31
A rotating field mass spectrometer system, comprising:
- an ionizing structure, comprising a substrate having at least one opening, a first conductive electrode extending on a first surface of the substrate and a second conductive electrode extending on a second surface of the substrate, and a separator insulating element, having a thickness less than 1 micron, separating said first and second conductive electrodes at said at least one opening, said first and second conductive electrodes being separated by a width of said insulator at said opening;
- and
- a rotating field mass spectrometer part that receives ions from said ionizing structure and which characterizes said ions.
A rotating field mass spectrometer system that operates without a vacuum pump.
A rotating field mass spectrometer system, comprising:
- an ionizing structure formed of a thick supporting portion with holes formed in the thick supporting portion and having first and second metal electrodes coated on surfaces of the thick supporting portion extending into the holes in the thick supporting portion, where a distance between the first and second metal electrodes within the holes of the thick supporting portion is less than the mean free path of a material being ionized;
- and
- a rotating field mass spectrometer part, receiving ions formed by said ionizing structure.
A rotating field mass spectrometer system that operates without fragmenting an incoming sample.
A method of forming a rotating field mass spectrometer, comprising:
- forming a layer of thin dielectric material on a substrate that has a first specified thickness of a sufficient thickness to maintain structural integrity;
- forming a first electrode on the first surface of said thin dielectric material, said first electrode being formed of a metal material;
- back etching at least one hole in said substrate;
- forming a second electrode on a second surface of the substrate including the at least one back etching holes, such that at least a portion of the second electrode is on a second surface of the thin dielectric material;
- forming holes in the second electrode, thin dielectric material and the first electrode, which holes have side surfaces where the first and second electrodes are separated by a width of the thin dielectric material;
- and
- forming a rotating field mass spectrometer part to receive ions which have passed through said holes.
A rotating field mass spectrometer, comprising:
- an ionizing structure, having supporting portions, and unsupported parts between said supporting portions, where said unsupported parts include electrodes which are separated by a distance less than the mean free path of a specified sample, and include holes that pass through the ionizing structure;
- and
- a rotating field mass spectrometer part, receiving ions from said ionizing structure, and determining characteristics of the ions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.