114results about "Miniaturised spectrometers" patented technology

A miniature linear ion trap (MLIT) with a length of less than 30 mm is provided for ion focusing in the axial plane. The MLIT has multipoles for applying an AC voltage to ions and tubular entrance and exit lenses for applying a DC voltage to the ions. In another aspect, MLIT includes electrodes within the tubular entrance and exit lenses for detection of image current. A method is also provided for applying voltage to the entrance and exit lenses for ion focusing.

Low-power, low flow-rate, portable, miniaturized plasma devices are provided. A portable, low-power, low flow-rate, miniaturized sample introduction device is also provided. The devices are inexpensive to make, have low operating cost and can be used with a variety of gases and gas mixtures. The devices can be used for elemental analysis from liquid or solid micro-samples by optical emission or mass spectrometry provided that an appropriate sample introduction system is used.

A miniature mass spectrometer that may be coupled to an atmospheric pressure ionisation source is described. Ions pass through a small orifice from a region at atmospheric pressure or low vacuum, and undergo efficient collisional cooling as they transit a very short, differentially pumped ion guide. A narrow beam of low energy ions is passed through a small aperture and into a separate chamber containing the mass analyser.

A method of interfacing atmospheric pressure ion sources, including electrospray and desorption electrospray ionization sources, to mass spectrometers, for example miniature mass spectrometers, in which the ionized sample is discontinuously introduced into the mass spectrometer. Discontinuous introduction improves the match between the pumping capacity of the instrument and the volume of atmospheric pressure gas that contains the ionized sample. The reduced duty cycle of sample introduction is offset by operation of the mass spectrometer under higher performance conditions and by ion accumulation at atmospheric pressure.

A mass spectrometer of reduced size and weight is provided which is capable to conduct highly accurate mass spectroscopy. The mass spectrometer includes an ion source adapted to ionize gas flowing in from outside in order to ionize a measurement sample and a mass spectroscopy section for separating the ionized measurement sample. The ion source has its interior reduced in pressure by differential pumping from the mass spectroscopy section and ionizes the gas when the interior pressure rises as it inhales the gas, and the mass spectroscopy section separates the ionized measurement sample when its interior pressure falls after inhale of the gas. The mass spectrometer may further include a restriction device for suppressing a flow rate of the gas the ion source inhales and an open / close device for opening and closing a flow of the gas the ion source inhales.

A portable mass spectrometer having an atmospheric pressure interface for introducing ions generated at ambient pressure gas conditions into a vacuum of the mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer has a vacuum chamber having at least one vacuum section and at least one gas inlet for directing the ambient pressure gas including the ions into the at least one vacuum section. The at least one gas inlet has a gas passage channel of a length L and a limiting cross section S with a ratio of L / S being less than 20,000 cm−1. The mass spectrometer has a radio frequency (RF) ion guide in the at least one vacuum section positioned for collecting the ions from the at least one gas inlet and transmitting the ions further to a mass analyzer for analyzing the ions transmitted from the ion guide.

A mass spectrometer having a resolution improved by introducing ions into a mass spectrometry part with a high efficiency is provided with a small-sized, simple configuration. The mass spectrometer includes an opening / closing mechanism provided between a sample introducing piping part for introducing a sample into the mass spectrometry part and the mass spectrometry part to conduct gas introduction intermittently and control sample passage. The mass spectrometer further includes a pump mechanism to evacuate a high pressure side of the sample introducing piping part, that is, an opposite side of the opening / closing mechanism to the mass spectrometry part to have a pressure in a range of 100 to 10,000 Pa.

A miniature mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an atmospheric pressure ionisation source, a first vacuum chamber having an atmospheric pressure sampling orifice or capillary, a second vacuum chamber located downstream of the first vacuum chamber and a third vacuum chamber located downstream of the second vacuum chamber. A first vacuum pump is arranged and adapted to pump the first vacuum chamber, wherein the first vacuum pump is arranged and adapted to maintain the first vacuum chamber at a pressure <10 mbar. A first RF ion guide is located within the first vacuum chamber and an ion detector is located in the third vacuum chamber. The ion path length from the atmospheric pressure sampling orifice or capillary to an ion detecting surface of the ion detector is ≦400 mm. The mass spectrometer further comprises a tandem quadrupole mass analyser, a 3D ion trap mass analyser, a 2D or linear ion trap mass analyser, a Time of Flight mass analyser, a quadrupole-Time of Flight mass analyser or an electrostatic mass analyser arranged in the third vacuum chamber. A split flow turbomolecular vacuum pump comprising an intermediate or interstage port is connected to the second vacuum chamber and a high vacuum (“HV”) port is connected to the third vacuum chamber. The first vacuum pump is also arranged and adapted to act as a backing vacuum pump to the split flow turbomolecular vacuum pump and the first vacuum pump has a maximum pumping speed ≦10 m3 / hr (2.78 L / s).

Low-power, low flow-rate, portable, miniaturized plasma devices are provided. A portable, low-power, low flow-rate, miniaturized sample introduction device is also provided. The devices are inexpensive to make, have low operating cost and can be used with a variety of gases and gas mixtures. The devices can be used for elemental analysis from liquid or solid micro-samples by optical emission or mass spectrometry provided that an appropriate sample introduction system is used.

An ion trap mass spectrometry system adapted for portability and related method includes an ion source for generating ions from a sample to be analyzed, and a resistive drift tube coupled to an output of the ion source for receiving the ions injected therein. The resistive drift tube decelerates the ions to provide cooled ions having a mean translational kinetic energy of less than 5 keV. A miniature ion trap or trap array, such having apertures <1 mm, is coupled to an output of the resistive drift tube for trapping the cooled ions. A spectrometer is coupled to the miniature ion trap for analyzing the cooled ions.

A miniature linear ion trap (MLIT) with a length of less than 30 mm is provided for ion focusing in the axial plane. The MLIT has multipoles for applying an AC voltage to ions and tubular entrance and exit lenses for applying a DC voltage to the ions. In another aspect, MLIT includes electrodes within the tubular entrance and exit lenses for detection of image current. A method is also provided for applying voltage to the entrance and exit lenses for ion focusing.

A miniature mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an atmospheric pressure ionisation source, a first vacuum chamber having an atmospheric pressure sampling orifice or capillary, a second vacuum chamber located downstream of the first vacuum chamber and a third vacuum chamber located downstream of the second vacuum chamber. A first vacuum pump is arranged and adapted to pump the first vacuum chamber, wherein the first vacuum pump is arranged and adapted to maintain the first vacuum chamber at a pressure <10 mbar. A first RF ion guide is located within the first vacuum chamber. An ion detector is located in the third vacuum chamber. The ion path length from the atmospheric pressure sampling orifice or capillary to an ion detecting surface of the ion detector is ≦400 mm. The mass spectrometer further comprises a split flow turbomolecular vacuum pump comprising an intermediate or interstage port connected to the second vacuum chamber and a high vacuum (“HV”) port connected to the third vacuum chamber. The first vacuum pump is also arranged and adapted to act as a backing vacuum pump to the split flow turbomolecular vacuum pump. The first vacuum pump has a maximum pumping speed ≦10 m3 / hr (2.78 L / s).

A method is provided for reducing signal ringing in a microchannel plate detector assembly having a cylindrical mount with a center tube extending through at least a portion of the assembly, in a mass spectrometer including the steps of providing the microchannel plate detector assembly with a pin anode extending from the cylindrical mount and located in proximity to the center tube; holding a front portion of the assembly at ground potential; setting a middle portion of the assembly between the front portion and a rear portion to a first voltage potential for accelerating ions; holding the rear portion of the assembly to a second voltage potential; holding the pin anode at a third voltage potential; and accelerating electrons emitted from the middle portion of the assembly toward the pin anode. The third voltage potential is established by an amplifier of an oscilloscope connected to the detector assembly.

A miniature mass spectrometer that may be coupled to an atmospheric pressure ionisation source is described. Ions pass through a small orifice from a region at atmospheric pressure or low vacuum, and undergo efficient collisional cooling as they transit a very short, differentially pumped ion guide. A narrow beam of low energy ions is passed through a small aperture and into a separate chamber containing the mass analyser.

A scaled down version of a toroidal radio frequency (RF) ion trap mass analyzer operating with RF trapping voltages on the order of 1 kVp-p yet despite the reduced dimensions, retains roughly the same ion trapping volume as conventional 3D quadrupole ion traps, wherein the curved geometry enables construction of a compact mass analyzer and easy interface with conventional electron multipliers.

Apparatus and methods for controlling miniaturized arrays of ion traps, including cylindrical ion traps, rectilinear ion traps, and linear ion traps. Improved methods for applying supplemental AC signals to individual ion traps in an ion trap array. Methods of organizing ion trap arrays and operating the arrays in a manner to improve sensitivity, resolution and mass accuracy. Techniques for performing simultaneous detection of multiple compounds from ion trap arrays. Optimization of ion trap performance by dynamic optimization or adjustment of RF trapping frequency and voltage amplitude.

A mass spectrometry (MS) method which includes generating in a vicinity of the quadrupole ion trap hydrogen molecules, directing at least part of the hydrogen molecules into the quadrupole ion trap cell, applying AC and DC voltages to quadrupole ion trap cell electrodes to create a combined AC / DC trapping field, placing sample ions inside the quadrupole ion trap cell, cooling at least part of said ions using said hydrogen molecules as a buffer gas, changing the combined AC / DC trapping field to eject the ions from the quadrupole ion trap cell, and detecting the ejected ions

There is provided a mass spectrometry apparatus comprising: an ion source arranged in a substantially horizontal orientation and from which a quantity of ions may be sourced, an ion filter device arranged for receiving a stream of ions for filtering thereof; and, an ion guide arranged so as to guide ions sourced from the ion source toward the ion filter device. The ion source and the ion filter device are arranged relative to one another so that the profile of the apparatus is reduced so as to minimise the effective footprint of the apparatus.

A combination of electrodes that are cylindrical and an asymmetric arrangement of cylindrical and planar electrodes are used to create electric fields that compensate for toroidal curvature in a toroidal ion trap, the design lending itself to high precision manufacturing and miniaturization, converging ion paths that enhance detection, higher pressure operation, and optimization of the shape of the electric fields by careful arrangement of the electrodes.

A miniature, low cost mass spectrometer capable of unit resolution over a mass range of 10 to 50 AMU. The mass spectrometer incorporates several features that enhance the performance of the design over comparable instruments. An efficient ion source enables relatively low power consumption without sacrificing measurement resolution. Variable geometry mechanical filters allow for variable resolution. An onboard ion pump removes the need for an external pumping source. A magnet and magnetic yoke produce magnetic field regions with different flux densities to run the ion pump and a magnetic sector mass analyzer. An onboard digital controller and power conversion circuit inside the vacuum chamber allows a large degree of flexibility over the operation of the mass spectrometer while eliminating the need for high-voltage electrical feedthroughs. The miniature mass spectrometer senses fractions of a percentage of inlet gas and returns mass spectra data to a computer.

A solid state compact ion gauge includes an inlet, a gas ionizer, and a detector all formed within a cavity in a semiconductor substrate. The gas ionizer can be a solid state electron emitter with ion optics provided by electrodes formed in the cavity through which the cavity is evacuated by differential pumping. Preferably, the substrate is formed in two halves. The substrate halves are then bonded together after the components are provided therein.

Methods and devices for ion separations or manipulations in gas phase are disclosed. The device includes a single non-planar surface. Arrays of electrodes are coupled to the surface. A combination ofRF and DC voltages are applied to the arrays of electrodes to create confining and driving fields that move ions through the device. The DC voltages are static DC voltages or time-dependent DC potentials or waveforms.

The present invention is directed to a system and apparatus employing an ultralow power, pulsed data collection apparatus having multiple detector channels, such as 64 channels. The system and apparatus has a small volume and power requirements, enabling launch and deployment from commercial spacecraft, such as pursuit to the CubeSat and other nanosatellite protocols.

A miniature mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an atmospheric pressure ionisation source and a first vacuum chamber having an atmospheric pressure sampling orifice or capillary, a second vacuum chamber located downstream of the first vacuum chamber and a third vacuum chamber located downstream of the second vacuum chamber. An ion detector is located in the third vacuum chamber. A first RF ion guide is located within the first vacuum chamber and a second RF ion guide is located within the second vacuum chamber. The ion path length from the atmospheric pressure sampling orifice or capillary to an ion detecting surface of the ion detector is ≦400 mm. The mass spectrometer further comprises a tandem quadrupole mass analyser, a 3D ion trap mass analyser, a 2D or linear ion trap mass analyser, a Time of Flight mass analyser, a quadrupole-Time of Flight mass analyser or an electrostatic mass analyser arranged in the third vacuum chamber. The product of the pressure P1 in the vicinity of the first RF ion guide and the length L1 of the first RF ion guide is in the range 10-100 mbar-cm and the product of the pressure P2 in the vicinity of the second RF ion guide and the length L2 of the second RF ion guide is in the range 0.05-0.3 mbar-cm.

The invention provides an ion trap chip and system, which are suitable for the field of quantum computing. The ion trap chip comprises a plurality of first ion traps used for storing operation ions, wherein two adjacent first ion traps form an ion trap group; second ion traps corresponding to one ion trap group, wherein the second ion traps are used for executing the quantum operation of the operation ions stored in the corresponding ion trap group, and the second ion traps are located between the two first ion traps in the corresponding ion trap group; and the operation ions stored in the first ion trap in the ion trap group are transmitted to the corresponding second ion trap along a straight line. The ion storage region and the quantum operation region in the ion trap chip are separated, and the ion storage region and the corresponding quantum operation region are located on the same straight line, so that turning is not needed in ion transportation, and the efficiency of quantum calculation is greatly improved.