Back to results
US 6,191,419 B1Granted
Machined electrostatic sector for mass spectrometer
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorMahadeva P. Sinha
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrostatic sector device for a mass spectrometer is formed from a single piece of machinable ceramic. The machined ceramic is coated with a nickel coating, and a notch is etched in the nickel coating to form two separated portions. The sector can be covered by a cover formed from a separate piece of machined ceramic.
Claims12
An electrostatic sector for a mass spectrometer device, comprising:
- a housing, formed by a machined piece of insulating ceramic material of a type that has a desirable vacuum property, said machined piece of ceramic defining an outer perimeter and an inner slot area which is substantially curved over an entire extent thereof, so that its walls are always parallel to one another, and extends only partially through said machined piece of ceramic, said walls of said inner slot area forming the electrostatic sector;
- and
- a conductive coating, coated on at least some, but not all of said walls of said slot area, and a portion where said conductive film is not coated defining an insulating gap separating said conductive coating into first and second separated conductive portions.
A method of forming an electrostatic sector, comprising:
- machining, from a top surface, a curved slot into a piece of nonconductive material that extends from said top surface into said material a distance less than the thickness of said material and forms a constant cross sectional slot to form a housing;
- forming a conductive coating on part, but not all, of said non conductive material;
- separating said material into a first conductive side and a second conductive side which are insulated from one another.
An electrostatic sector device comprising:
- a housing, formed of a machined piece of insulating ceramic material with a desired vacuum property, having an outer perimeter and an inner slot area which is substantially curved along an entire length of said inner slot area, all the way from a first end of inner slot area at a first edge of said housing to a second end of said inner slot area at a second edge of said housing;
- a conductive coating, including a coating over an entire area thereof except for over an insulating gap which separates said coating into a first side and a second side with the insulating gap therebetween, said housing including an attachment mechanism allowing a cover to be attached thereto, and
- a cover, formed of the same material as said housing, and also coated with the same material that coats said housing, and also having an insulating gap thereon, said insulating gap being aligned to the insulating gap in said housing, such that when said cover is attached, the cover makes electrical contact at respective sides which said first and second sides, respectively.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.