Final Report - Ion Production and Transport in Atmospheric Pressure Ion Source Mass Spectrometers
This document is the final report on a project that focused in the general theme of atmospheric-pressure ion production and transport for mass spectrometry. Within that general theme there were two main projects: the fundamental study of the transport of elemental ions through the vacuum interface of an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICPMS), and fundamental studies of the ionization mechanisms in ambient desorption/ionization (ADI) sources for molecular mass spectrometry. In both cases the goal was to generate fundamental understanding of key instrumental processes that would lead to the development of instruments that were more sensitive and more consistent in their performance. The emphasis on consistency derives from the need for instruments that have the same sensitivity, regardless of sample type. In the jargon of analytical chemistry, such instruments are said to be free from matrix effects. In the ICPMS work each stage of ion production and of ion transport from the atmospheric pressure to the high-vacuum mass analyzer was studied. Factors controlling ion transport efficiency and consistency were identified at each stage of pressure reduction. In the ADI work the interactions between an electrospray plume and a fluorescent sample on a surface were examined microscopically. A new mechanism for analyte ion production in desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) was proposed. Optical spectroscopy was used to track the production of reactive species in plasmas used as ADI sources. Experiments with mixed-gas plasmas demonstrated that the addition of a small amount of hydrogen to a helium ADI plasma could boost the sensitivity for some analytes by over an order of magnitude.
- Research Organization:
- Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-03ER15410
- OSTI ID:
- 1131038
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-BYU-15410
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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