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Method and apparatus for chemical ionization of a gas mixture

  • US 10,224,190 B2
  • Filed: 02/24/2016
  • Issued: 03/05/2019
  • Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2015
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for chemical ionization of a gas mixture by ion-atom reactions or ion-molecule reactions, wherein the gas mixture comprises at least one main component or a carrier gas and one or more reactant gases or analytes, wherein ionization is carried out by reactions with primary ions additionally introduced into the gas mixture, such that product ions are generated from neutral atoms or molecules of the reactant gases, the method comprising:

  • (a) introducing the gas mixture into a reaction volume having a central line parallel to an axial direction and orthogonal to a radial direction and a radial plane,wherein the reaction volume comprises a first top surface, a second top surface and a lateral surface extending between the two top surfaces and wherein the central line extends from the first top surface to the second top surface and completely within the reaction volume;

    (b) introducing primary ions suitable for the chemical ionization of the one or more reactant gas components into the reaction volume;

    (c) accelerating the primary ions and generated product ions in the reaction volume by means of a temporally periodic electric field E(x,t),(d) wherein E(x,t) has a radial field vector component Er(Z,t) which, at all points {Z} lying on the central line, is orthogonal to the central line and which rotates periodically making exactly a 360°

    rotation in the radial plane during the cycle duration T, and the absolute value |Er(Z,t)| of which is unequal to zero in more than 80% of the times lying within a cycle duration T,(e) wherein E(x,t) has an axial field vector component Eaxi(Z,t) which, at all points {Z} lying on the central line, is parallel with respect to the central line and the absolute value |Eaxi(Z,t)| of which is smaller than the absolute value of the rotating radial component |Er(Z,t)|, and(f) wherein t is time, x is a position vector, Z is a position vector of a point lying on the central line, {Z} is a set of all position vectors Z belonging to the central line, and T is the cycle duration of a 360°

    rotation of Er(Z,t).

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