913results about "Stability-of-path spectrometers" patented technology

The invention relates to an apparatus for generating a plurality of charged particle beamlets, comprising a charged particle source for generating a diverging charged particle beam, a converging means for refracting said diverging charged particle beam and a lens array comprising a plurality of lenses, wherein said lens array is located between said charged particle source and said converging means.

In this way, it is possible to reduce aberrations of the converging means.

An apparatus for detecting chemical substances which is high in sensitivity and selectivity is provided.

An organic acid or an organic acid salt is used to generate an organic acid gas from an organic acid gas generator 3 to be mixed with a sample gas for introduction into an ion source 4 for ionization, thereby obtaining a mass spectrum by a mass analysis region 5. A data processor 6 determines the detection or non-detection of a specific m/z of an organic acid adduct ion obtained by adding a molecule generated from the organic acid to a molecule with specific m/z generated from a target chemical substance to be detected based on the obtained mass spectrum. When there is an ion peak with the m/z of the organic acid adduct ion, the presence of the target chemical substance to be detected is determined, and an alarm is sounded. False detection can be prevented.

One embodiment relates to an objective lens utilizing magnetic and electrostatic fields which is configured to focus a primary electron beam onto a surface of a target substrate. The objective lens includes a magnetic pole piece and an electrostatic deflector configured within the pole piece. An electrostatic lens field is determined by the pole piece and the electrostatic deflector, and the electrostatic lens field is configured by adjusting offset voltages applied to plates of the electrostatic deflector. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

A method for slowing and controlling a beam of charged particles includes the steps of superimposing at least one magnetic field on a mass and passing the beam through the mass and at least one magnetic field such that the beam and the mass slows but does not stop the particles. An apparatus for slowing and controlling a beam of charged particles includes a bending magnetic field superimposed on a focusing magnetic field within a mass.

A power supply for applying a voltage to a scanning electromagnet for deflecting a charged particle beam has a first power supply unit having no filter and a second power supply unit having a filter. When an irradiation position of the charged particle beam in an irradiation object is moved, the first power supply unit, namely a power supply unit having no filter, is used to apply the voltage to the scanning electromagnet, so that an exciting current flowing in the scanning electromagnet can be changed in a short time. Further, when the irradiation position of the charged particle beam is maintained, the second power supply is used to apply a voltage whose pulsating component was removed to the scanning electromagnet, so that the exciting current flowing in the scanning electromagnet can be controlled precisely. Consequently, the charged particle beam can be applied uniformly to the irradiation object and an irradiation time of the charged particle beam to the irradiation object can be curtailed.

The invention comprises a radio-frequency accelerator method and apparatus used in conjunction with multi-axis charged particle radiation therapy of cancerous tumors. An RF synthesizer provides a low voltage RF signal, that is synchronized to the period of circulation of protons in the proton beam path, to a set of integrated microcircuits, loops, and coils where the coils circumferentially enclose the proton beam path in a synchrotron. The integrated components combine to provide an accelerating voltage to the protons in the proton beam path in a size compressed and price reduced format. The integrated RF-amplifier microcircuit/accelerating coil system is operable from about 1 MHz, for a low energy proton beam, to about 15 MHz, for a high energy proton beam.

A new geometry ion trap and its use as a mass spectrometer is described. The ion traps can be combined linearly and in parallel to form systems for mass storage, analysis, fragmentation, separation, etc. of ions. The ion trap has a simple rectilinear geometry with a high trapping capacity. It can be operated to provide mass analysis in the mass-selective instability mode as well as the mass-selective stability mode. Arrays of multiple ion traps allow combinations of multiple gas-phase processes to be applied to the trapped ions to achieve high sensitivity, high selectivity and/or higher throughput in the analysis of ions.

A particle beam therapy system that is capable of irradiating a target area with an irradiation beam suitable for a particle beam therapy using a spot scanning method includes a synchrotron, a beam transport system and an irradiation device. The beam transport system is provided with a beam interrupting device adapted to block supply of a charged particle beam to the irradiation device. The beam interrupting device has a beam shielding magnet, an exciting power supply for the beam shielding magnet and a beam dump. The beam transport system has a bending magnet. The beam shielding magnet is provided on an inlet side of the bending magnet. The beam dump is provided on an outlet side of the bending magnet. A controller controls the exciting power supply to control the timing of an operation of the beam shielding magnet.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for focusing, separating, and detecting gas-phase ions using the principles of quadrupole fields, substantially at or near atmospheric pressure. Ions are entrained in a concentric flow of gas and travel through a high-transmission element into a RF/DC quadrupole, through a second high-transmission element, and then impact on an ion detector, such as a faraday plate; or through an aperture with subsequent identification by a mass spectrometer. Ions with stable trajectories pass through the RF/DC quadrupole while ions with unstable trajectories drift off-axis collide with the rods and are lost. Embodiments of this invention are devices and methods for focusing, separating and detecting gas-phase ions without the need for a vacuum chamber when coupled to atmospheric ionization sources.

The present invention provides an improved column for a charged particle beam device. The column comprises an aperture plate having multiple apertures to produce multiple beams of charged particles and a deflector to influence the beams of charged particles so that each beam appears to come from a different source. Furthermore, an objective lens is used in order to focus the charged-particle beams onto the specimen. Due to the deflector, multiple images of the source are created on the surface of the specimen whereby all the images can be used for parallel data acquisition. Accordingly, the speed of data acquisition is increased. With regard to the focusing properties of the objective lens, the beams of charged particles can basically be treated as independent particle beams which do not negatively affect each other. Accordingly, each beam basically provides the same resolution as the beam of a conventional charged particle beam device.

A solid state sub-nanometer-scale electron beam emitter comprising a multi-layered structure having a nano-tip electron emitter and tunnel emission junction formed on substrate, an initial electron beam extraction electrode, a “nano-sandwich Einzel” electrode, and a topmost protective layer.

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for treatment of a solid tumor. More particularly, the invention comprises a multi-axis and/or multi-field charged particle cancer therapy system. In one embodiment, the tumor is imaged from multiple directions in phase with patient respiration. The two-dimensional images are combined to produce a three-dimensional picture of the tumor relative to patient features. The resulting three-dimensional image is used in generation of a radiation treatment plan and subsequent radiation therapy with the radiation beam in terms of control of two-dimensional beam trajectory, delivered beam energy, delivered beam intensity, and/or beam velocity each as a function of patient vertical translation position, patient rotation position, and/or patient respiration.

A method of inhibiting the reaction between ions of opposite polarity is disclosed. The method includes exposing a population of ions to a resonance excitation frequency during a mass-to-charge altering reaction between a first subpopulation of ions and a second subpopulation of ions, the resonance excitation frequency being tuned to inhibit the mass-to-charge altering reaction between an ion of the first subpopulation of ions having a predetermined mass-to-charge ratio and an ion of the second subpopulation of ions so that when an ion of the first subpopulation of ions attains the predetermined mass-to-charge ratio, the ion having the predetermined mass-to-charge ratio is selectively inhibited from reacting with ions of the second subpopulation of ions.

A charged particle optical system comprising a beamlet generator for generating a plurality of beamlets of charged particles and an electrostatic deflector for deflecting the beamlets. The electrostatic deflector comprises first and second electrodes adapted for connection to a voltage for generating an electric field between the electrodes for deflection of the beamlets, the electrodes being at least partially freestanding in an active area of the electrostatic deflector. The electrodes define at least one passing window for passage of at least a portion of the beamlets between the electrodes, the passing window having a length in a first direction and a width in a transverse direction. The system is adapted to arrange the beamlets in at least one row and to direct a single row of the beamlets through the passing window of the electrostatic deflector, the beamlets of the row extending in the first direction. A substantial part of the electrostatic deflector extends beyond the passing window in the first direction.

A charged particle beam apparatus for processing an object using a charged particle beam includes a charged particle lens in which an array of apertures, through each of which a charged particle beam passes, is formed; a vacuum container which contains the charged particle lens; and a radiation source configured to generate an ionizing radiation; wherein the apparatus is configured to cause the radiation source to pass the ionizing radiation through the array of apertures in a state in which a pressure in the vacuum container is changing.

A method for introducing ions generated in a region of relatively high pressure into a region of relatively low pressure by providing at least two electrospray ion sources, providing at least two capillary inlets configured to direct ions generated by the electrospray sources into and through each of the capillary inlets, providing at least two sets of primary elements having apertures, each set of elements having a receiving end and an emitting end, the primary sets of elements configured to receive a ions from the capillary inlets at the receiving ends, and providing a secondary set of elements having apertures having a receiving end and an emitting end, the secondary set of elements configured to receive said ions from the emitting end of the primary sets of elements and emit said ions from said emitting end of the secondary set of elements. The method may further include the step of providing at least one jet disturber positioned within at least one of the sets of primary elements, providing a voltage, such as a dc voltage, in the jet disturber, thereby adjusting the transmission of ions through at least one of the sets of primary elements.

The present invention includes a delivery means of material to be deposited onto thin film surfaces with precise spatial, temporal, compositional, and energy resolution for controlled reactions, patterning (2-dimensional and 3-dimensional), and removal of materials or reaction products of materials from thin film surfaces. The device includes a near atmospheric pressure means of generating ions, ion clusters, or charged particles as a material form to deliver said materials onto substrate surfaces. The device relies on shaped, patterned, conformal ion lenses, and individually addressable lens elements of a lens arrays to create an integrated deposition system for printed patterns of thin films. The devices and methods provide a novel approach to delivering materials to a surface, removing materials from a surface, or creating new materials at or on the surface. These methods and devices may be used in applications of thin film deposition, micro-electronics and semi-conductor manufacturing, printing, surface interfacial layers, coating, painting, sample and reagent treatment, preparation for sensors, chemical analysis, and fabricating 2- and 3-dimensional structures and devices.

Multipole ion guides configured with one or mote segments and positioned in a higher pressure vacuum region, are operated in mass to charge selection and ion fragmentation modes. Individual multipole ion guides are mounted in a linear assembly with no electrodes configured in between each multipole ion guide. At least a portion of each multipole ion guide mounted in a linear assembly resides in a vacuum region with higher background pressure. At least one ion guide can be configured to extend continuously from one vacuum stage into another. Individual sets of RF, +/− DC and secular frequency voltage supplies provide potentials to the rods of each multipole ion guide allowing the operation of ion transmission, ion trapping, mass to charge selection and ion fragmentation functions independently in each ion guide. The presence of higher background pressure along a portion of the multiple ion guide linear assembly allows the Collisional Induced Dissociation (CID) fragmentation of ions by axially accelerating ions from one multipole ion guide to an adjacent ion guide, analogous to a triple quadrupole function. A variety of MS and MS/MSⁿ analysis functions can be achieved with a mass analyzer configured with multiple ion guide linear assembly operated in a higher background pressure.

The present invention provides a plasma ion beam system that includes multiple gas sources and that can be used for performing multiple operations using different ion species to create or alter submicron features of a work piece. The system preferably uses an inductively coupled, magnetically enhanced ion beam source, suitable in conjunction with probe-forming optics sources to produce ion beams of a wide variety of ions without substantial kinetic energy oscillations induced by the source, thereby permitting formation of a high resolution beam.

An ion trap-based system for chemical analysis includes an ion trap array. The ion trap array includes a plurality of ion traps arranged in a 2-dimensional array for initially confining ions. Each of the ion traps comprise a central electrode having an aperture, a first and second insulator each having an aperture sandwiching the central electrode, and first and second end cap electrodes each having an aperture sandwiching the first and second insulator. A structure for simultaneously directing a plurality of different species of ions out from the ion traps is provided. A spectrometer including a detector receives and identifies the ions. The trap array can be used with spectrometers including time-of-flight mass spectrometers and ion mobility spectrometers.

The invention solves the problem of artifact ghost peaks which can sometimes arise in mass spectrometers that employ a quadrupole rod set for both trapping and mass analyzing the trapped ions. The problem arises as a result of randomly distributed voltage gradients along the length of the rods. Three solutions are presented. The first approach involves improving the conduction characteristics of the rod sets. The second approach involves the application of at least one continuous axial DC field to the trapping quadrupole rod set in order to urge ions towards a pre-determined region of the trap, thereby avoiding voltage gradients. The third approach involves the application of one or more discrete axial fields to create one or more potential barriers along the axial dimension of the trap (in addition to the barriers used to initially trap the ions). These barriers prevent ions of differing voltage gradients from equilibrating with one another.

There is described an interface for delivering ions generated in an ion source into a mass analyzer in a chamber under vacuum pressure. In particular, the interface employs two consecutive ion guides operated to dissociate adduct ions formed in the ion source or high pressure regions of the interface between the ion source and the mass analyzer, thus improving the limit of detection or limit of quantitation of the mass analyzer by increasing the analyte ion current.

The invention comprises a charged particle beam acceleration and optional extraction method and apparatus used in conjunction with charged particle beam radiation therapy of cancerous tumors. Novel design features of a synchrotron are described. Particularly, turning magnets, edge focusing magnets, concentrating magnetic field magnets, and extraction elements are described that minimize the overall size of the synchrotron, provide a tightly controlled proton beam, directly reduce the size of required magnetic fields, directly reduces required operating power, and allow continual acceleration of protons in a synchrotron even during a process of extracting protons from the synchrotron.

Method and apparatus for field ion mobility spectrometry for identification of chemical compounds in a sample by trajectory of sample ions in a transverse electric field.

The purpose of the invention is to provide an improved electron beam apparatus with improvements in throughput, accuracy, etc. One of the characterizing features of the electron beam apparatus of the present invention is that it has a plurality of optical systems, each of which comprises a primary electron optical system for scanning and irradiating a sample with a plurality of primary electron beams; a detector device for detecting a plurality of secondary beams emitted by irradiating the sample with the primary electron beams; and a secondary electron optical system for guiding the secondary electron beams from the sample to the detector device; all configured so that the plurality of optical systems scan different regions of the sample with their primary electron beams, and detect the respective secondary electron beams emitted from each of the respective regions. This is what makes higher throughput possible. To provide high accuracy, the apparatus is configured such that the axes of its optical systems can be aligned, and aberrations corrected, by a variety of methods.

The present invention is an improved apparatus and method for mass spectrometry using a dual ion trapping system. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, three "linear" multipoles are combined to create a dual linear ion trap system for trapping, analyzing, fragmenting and transmitting parent and fragment ions to a mass analyzer-preferably a TOF mass analyzer. The dual ion trap according to the present invention includes two linear ion traps, one positioned before an analytic quadrupole and one after the analytic multipole. Both linear ion traps are multipoles composed of any desired number of rods-i.e. the traps are quadrupoles, pentapoles, hexapoles, octapoles, etc. Such arrangement enables one to maintain a high "duty cycle" while avoiding "memory effects" and also reduces the power consumed in operating the analyzing quadrupole.

An electron beam apparatus is configured for dark field imaging of a substrate surface. Dark field is defined as an operational mode where the image contrast is sensitive to topographical features on the surface. A source generates a primary electron beam, and scan deflectors are configured to deflect the primary electron beam so as to scan the primary electron beam over the substrate surface whereby secondary and/or backscattered electrons are emitted from the substrate surface, said emitted electrons forming a scattered electron beam. A beam separator is configured to separate the scattered electron beam from the primary electron beam. The apparatus includes a cooperative arrangement which includes at least a ring-like element, a first grid, and a second grid. The ring-like element and the first and second grids each comprises conductive material. A segmented detector assembly is positioned to receive the scattered electron beam after the scattered electron beam passes through the cooperative arrangement. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed. The apparatus is configured to yield good topographical contrast, high signal to noise ratio, and to accommodate a variety of scattered beam properties that result from different primary beam and scan geometry settings.

An ion trap includes an electrode structure, including a first and a second opposed mirror electrodes and a central lens therebetween, that produces an electrostatic potential in which ions are confined to trajectories at natural oscillation frequencies, the confining potential being anharmonic. The ion trap also includes an AC excitation source having an excitation frequency f that excites confined ions at a frequency of about twice the natural oscillation frequency of the ions, the AC excitation frequency source preferably being connected to the central lens. In one embodiment, the ion trap includes a scan control that mass selectively reduces a frequency difference between the AC excitation frequency and about twice the natural oscillation frequency of the ions.

A three section linear or two-dimensional (2D) quadrupole ion trap as a high performance mass spectrometer is described. Mass analysis is performed by ejecting ions radically out a slot formed in one of the rods using the mass selective instability mode of operation. The slot geometry is optimized to yield high ejection efficiencies. Resolution can be controlled by using appropriate end section potentials to control the axial spread of the ion cloud. Multiple detectors can be used for enhancing sensitivity and for enabling enhanced ion analysis techniques in the ion trap.

A multipole ion guide is configured to improve the transmission efficiency of ions which traverse the length of one ion guide and enter either another multipole ion guide such as a quadrupole mass analyzer or a three dimensional ion trap. The ion transfer multipole ion guide radial dimensions are reduced such that the pole assembly and an appropriately shaped exit lens can be positioned within a portion of the internal space defined by the larger radius second multipole ion guide poles. Ions exiting the first ion guide of reduced size find themselves inside the second ion guide close to the centerline. In this manner ions can be efficiently transferred from one ion guide to another, even for those ions with low kinetic energies. In a second embodiment of the invention, the exit region of a multipole ion guide is configured such that the multipole ion guide poles can be extended into a counterbore of a three dimensional ion trap end cap electrode. With this configuration, ions (including those with low kinetic energies) can be transferred into a three dimensional ion trap with increased trapping efficiency.