High sensitivity, wide dynamic range time-of-flight mass spectrometer provided with a gas phase ion source

摘要

A high particle density in the exhaust volume of a gas-phase ion source and simultaneously a very low particle density in the flight path of the time-of-flight mass spectrometer results in a high sensitivity while simultaneously maintaining a large dynamic range of the intensity display. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to divide the time-of-flight mass spectrometer into two or more regions of different pressure, the different regions being separated by a gas-flow impedance. A maximum particle density in the exhaust volume while simultaneously maintaining a minimum particle density in the flight path can be obtained by integrating the gas-flow impedances (3, 6) directly into the electrodes (1, 2) of the ion source.