Ionization chamber for reactive samples
AssigneeAgilent Technologies, Inc.
InventorsPatrick D. Perkins, Jeffrey T. Kernan
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a mass spectrometer that includes an ionization source having a chamber for ionizing a fluid sample. The ionization chamber has surfaces to reduce the overall interaction with reactive samples. The inner surface walls of the ionization chamber may be formed from an inorganic conductive nitride or disulfide material or may be applied to a substrate as a coating. The invention also includes a method for reducing the interaction of a reactive analyte with the inner wall of the chamber by application or coating the inner wall of the chamber with an inert conductive material.
Claims10
A mass spectrometer comprising:
- (a) an ion source having an ionization chamber for producing analyte ions from sample stream, said ionization chamber having an inner surface comprising an inert inorganic conductive material selected from the group consisting of nitrides and disulfides of metals;
- (b) a mass analyzer coupled to said ion source for receiving said ions and for selecting the ions by mass-to-charge ratio;
- and
- (c) a detector system for connected to said mass analyzer measuring the abundance of-said selected ions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.