Abstract:
A portable system 1 for analyzing gaseous flows that vary over time is described, the system comprising a sampling chamber 18, a gas sampling module 7, an ion filtering module 8 and an ion detecting module 9. The sampling chamber 18 is suitable to be kept at a controlled sampling pressure Pc, and is configured to receive at least one gaseous flow F having a gaseous composition to be analyzed that is variable over time. The gas sampling module 7, arranged in fluidic communication with the sampling chamber 18, is configured to adjust an input gaseous flow Fi of gas particles from the sampling chamber 18, and an output gaseous flow Fo from the sampling module 7, so as to reproduce inside the sampling module 7 a gaseous composition representative of the gaseous composition to be analyzed. The gas sampling module 7 is further configured to ionize said gas particles and to emit the produced ions, so as to generate an ion flow I having an ion composition representative of the gaseous composition to be analyzed. The sampling module 7 is also suitable to maintain inside it a controlled ionization pressure Pi, and it is also configured in such a way that the input gaseous flow Fi comprises a plurality of micro-flows at a molecular or predominantly molecular regime, at the sampling pressure Pc, and the output gaseous flow Fo is a flow at a molecular or predominantly molecular regime, at the ionization pressure Pi. The ion filtering module 8 is operatively connected to the sampling module 7 to receive the ion flow I, and is configured to controllably select at least one type of ion present in the ion flow I and to generate a corresponding at least one homogeneous ion beam I′, having an intensity representative of the concentration of the corresponding gas particle in the gaseous composition to be analyzed. The ion detecting module 9 is operatively connected to the ion filtering module 8 to receive the at least one ion beam I′, and is configured to measure the intensity of the at least one ion beam I′ and to generate a corresponding electric signal S representative of the concentration of the corresponding gas particle in the gaseous composition to be analyzed.
Abstract:
Electrodynamic ion funnels confine, guide, or focus ions in gases using the Dehmelt potential of oscillatory electric field. New funnel designs operating at or close to atmospheric gas pressure are described. Effective ion focusing at such pressures is enabled by fields of extreme amplitude and frequency, allowed in microscopic gaps that have much higher electrical breakdown thresholds in any gas than the macroscopic gaps of present funnels. The new microscopic-gap funnels are useful for interfacing atmospheric-pressure ionization sources to mass spectrometry (MS) and ion mobility separation (IMS) stages including differential IMS or FAIMS, as well as IMS and MS stages in various configurations. In particular, "wedge" funnels comprising two planar surfaces positioned at an angle and wedge funnel traps derived therefrom can compress ion beams in one dimension, producing narrow belt-shaped beams and laterally elongated cuboid packets. This beam profile reduces the ion density and thus space-charge effects, mitigating the adverse impact thereof on the resolving power, measurement accuracy, and dynamic range of MS and IMS analyzers, while a greater overlap with coplanar light or particle beams can benefit spectroscopic methods.
Abstract:
L'invention concerne un micro-réflectron pour spectromètre de masse à temps de vol comprenant un substrat (3100, 5400), et, intégrés au volume du substrat, des moyens (5400) d'application d'un gradient de potentiel dans un volume adapté à constituer une zone de vol des ions (3300 ), caractérisé en ce que lesdits moyens d'application comprennent au moins deux électrodes de polarisation et une paroi en au moins un matériau résistif adaptée à être polarisée entre ces électrodes en sorte de générer un gradient continu de potentiel en assurant elle-même la fonction de réflectron, cette zone de vol, ces électrodes et cette paroi étant obtenues par la technologie des systèmes micro-électromécaniques (MEMS) et ce micro-réflectron ayant une épaisseur inférieure à 5 millimètres tandis que ses autres dimension sont inférieures à 10 fois cette épaisseur.
Abstract:
A microchip-based electrospray device, system, and method of fabrication thereof are disclosed. The electrospray device (250) includes a substrate (200) defining a channel (224) between an entrance orifice on an injection surface and an exit orifice on an ejection surface, a nozzle (232) defined by a portion recessed from the ejection surface surrounding the exit orifice, and an electric field generating source for application of an electric potential to the substrate to optimize and generate an electrospray (262). A method and system are disclosed to generate multiple electrospray plumes from a single fluid stream that provides an ion intensity as measured by a mass spectrometer that is approximately proportional to the number of electrospray plumes formed for analytes contained within the fluid. A plurality of electrospray nozzle devices (232) can be used in the form of an array of miniaturized nozzles for the purpose of generating multiple electrospray plumes (262) from multiple nozzles (232) for the same fluid stream . This invention dramatically increases the sensitivity of microchip electrospray devices (250) compared to prior disclosed systems and methods.
Abstract:
A microengineered multipole ion guide for use in miniature mass spectrometer systems is described. Exemplary methods of mounting rods in hexapole, octupole, and other multipole geometries are described. The rods forming the ion guide are supported in etched silicon structures defined in at least first and second substrates.