CLEANING OF CORONA DISCHARGE ION SOURCE

摘要

Systems and techniques for cleaning a corona discharge point are described. A controller (150) can be operatively coupled to a corona discharge point (108) to control the operation of the corona discharge point (1089. The controller (150) and the corona discharge point (108) can be included with, for example, an ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) system (100). The controller (150) can be used to operate the corona discharge point (108) at an operating voltage for a first time interval, with or without an additional higher pulse voltage, to produce a corona discharge, and to operate the corona discharge point (108) at a cleaning voltage greater than the operating voltage for a second time interval subsequent to the first time interval to produce a corona discharge. The effectiveness of the corona discharge point (108) can be monitored by, for instance, measuring a voltage necessary to produce a corona discharge at the corona discharge point (108), measuring a current produced at the corona discharge point (108) from a corona discharge, and so forth.

主权项

1. A system comprising:
an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) detector comprising a corona discharge point for producing a corona discharge; and a processing system operatively coupled with the IMS detector for operating the corona discharge point, the processing system configured to operate the corona discharge point at an operating voltage for a first time interval to produce a corona discharge, and to operate the corona discharge point at a cleaning voltage greater than the operating voltage for a second time interval subsequent to the first time interval to produce a corona discharge.