Planar ion sources for spectrometers
AssigneeHamilton Sundstrand Corporation
InventorsGary Eiceman, Benjamin D. Gardner, Hsien-Chi W. Niu
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Abstract
An apparatus for separating and analyzing ions includes a detector, a planar ion drift tube coupled to the detector and having a width, and a planar ion source. The planar ion source is coupled to the ion drift tube on an end of the ion drift tube opposite the detector and has a span greater than or equal to the width of the ion drift tube to ionize an analyte gas and fragment the analyte gas ions prior to admittance to the ion drift tube. Chemical detectors and methods of chemical detection are also described.
Claims20
An apparatus for separating and analyzing ions, comprising:
- an detector;
- an ion drift tube coupled to the detector and having a width, wherein the ion drift tube is a first ion drift tube and further comprising a second ion drift tube, the second ion drift tube arranged between the first ion drift tube and the detector;
- and
- a planar ion source coupled to the ion drift tube on an end of the ion drift tube opposite the detector, wherein the planar ion source has a span that is equal to or greater than the width of the ion drift tube to ionize an analyte gas and fragment the analyte gas ions proximate the planar ion source and prior to admittance to the ion drift tube.
A chemical detection method, comprising:
- at apparatus for separating and analyzing ions including an detector, an ion drift tube coupled to the detector and having a width, and a planar ion source coupled to the ion drift tube on an end of the ion drift tube opposite the detector with span equal or greater than the width of the drift tube,
- flowing an analyte gas across the span of the planar ion source;
- ionizing and fragmenting the analyte gas proximate the planar ion source;
- admitting the ionized and fragmented analyte gas into the drift tube;
- and
- driving the ionized and fragmented analyte gas to the detector to generate a signal indicative of composition of the analyte gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.