Secondary ultrasonic nebulisation
AssigneeMicromass UK Limited
InventorsStevan Bajic, David S. Douce, Gordon A. Jones
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A secondary ultrasonic nebulisation device is disclosed comprising: a liquid sample delivery capillary; a sample receiving surface arranged for receiving a liquid sample from the capillary; and an ultrasonic transducer configured for oscillating the surface so as to nebulise the liquid sample received thereon, wherein the device is configured such that the oscillations of the surface by the ultrasonic transducer cause charged droplets and/or gas phase ions to be generated from the sample.
Claims17
1-20. (canceled)
A mass or ion mobility spectrometer comprising:
- a secondary ultrasonic nebulisation device comprising:
- a liquid sample delivery capillary;
- a sample receiving surface arranged for receiving a liquid sample from the capillary;
- and
- an ultrasonic transducer configured for oscillating the surface so as to nebulise the liquid sample received thereon, wherein the device is configured such that the oscillations of the surface by the ultrasonic transducer cause charged droplets and/or gas phase ions to be generated from the sample;
- a vacuum chamber;
- an ion inlet orifice arranged between the sample receiving surface of the nebulisation device and the vacuum chamber, for receiving said charged droplets and/or ions;
- a structural component arranged in a flow path of the nebulised droplets and/or ion;
- and
- a heater configured to heat the structural component.
A method of nebulising a liquid sample using a secondary ultrasonic nebulisation device comprising:
- delivering a liquid sample to a sample receiving surface;
- ultrasonically oscillating the surface so as to nebulise the liquid sample, wherein said ultrasonically oscillating causes charged droplets and/or gas phase ions to be generated from the sample;
- urging said charged droplets and/or gas phase ions through an ion inlet orifice, into a vacuum chamber and onto a heated structural component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.