Patent · US Expired

Electro-optical ion detector for a scanning mass spectrometer

US4994676A · kind A · utility

6Cited by
8References
8Claims
0Family size

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJun 25, 1990
Grant dateFeb 19, 1991
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 25, 2010

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01J49/06
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A scanning mass spectrometer (10) in combination with an electro-optical detector (100) which enable greatly increased speed of mass determinations by detecting a limited range of masses simultaneously, thus reducing the number of discrete magnetic field adjustments required over a large range of masses. The electro-optical detector (100) includes a channel electron multiplier assembly (94) with the surface of an image plate (80) located along the ion focal plane (44) and at an angle to the exit plate (106) of the magnetic sector (26) and a fiberoptic window (134) of a special shape optically coupled between the angled image plate (80) and a photodiode detector array (140). The fiberoptic window (134) is shaped in such a way as to enable the entrance ends (entrance plane) (144) of the fibers to be parallel to the angled image plate (80) and the exit ends of the fibers (exit or second image plane) (146) to be parallel to the exit plane (106) while maintaining the ends of the fibers perpendicular to the fiber axes. The channel electron multiplier assembly (94) is within a vacuum envelope (104) and the photodiode array (140) is outside the vacuum envelope (104).

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.