Guiding charged droplets and ions in an electrospray ion source
US8368012B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 3, 2010 |
| Grant date | Feb 5, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 20, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01J2237/03
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Charged spray droplets are guided in a pseudopotential distribution generated by audio frequency voltages at electrodes of a guiding device, focusing the spray droplets toward the axis. An axial electric field profile and an axial flow profile of a drying gas in the guiding device allow the drift of different-sized droplets to be controlled in the longitudinal direction of the guiding device, so that the droplets are roughly equal in size when they leave the guiding device and finally dry up shortly after leaving. As a result, the ions are formed in a relatively small spatial region. Electrostatic potentials guide the analyte ions from this small spatial region to the entrance aperture of the inlet capillary; during this process, very light ions, especially protons and water-proton complexes, can be filtered out by a mobility filter.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.