GAS ANALYSIS METHOD AND IONISATION DETECTOR FOR CARRYING OUT SAID METHOD

摘要

The inventive gas analysis method and ionisation detector for carrying out said method makes it possible to carry out the qualitative and quantitative analysis of impurities in a basic gas. Said detector operates in a broad gas pressure range up to and including atmospheric pressure. Said impurity analysis method is carried out by analysing energy of electrons which are produced by ionisation of impurities atom or molecules during the collisions thereof with metastable atoms of inert gases or monochromatic photons. The analysis of the energy of electrons produced by the collisions of the impurities with the metastable atoms in a plasma afterglow which is produced between flat electrodes is carried out by obtaining a second current derivative in relation to voltage between cathode and anode. Also, in order to analysing the electron energy, an array can be arranged between said anode and cathode and an external ultraviolet source can be used for ionising the impurities in an equipotential space between said array and the anode. The interelectrode space and the gas pressure are selected in such a way that the distortions of the measured electron energy resulting from the collisions with the gas atoms and molecules are equal to or less than the predetermined level.