| AVS 54th International Symposium | |
| Vacuum Technology | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session VT-WeA |
| Session: | Miniature, Portable and Space Vacuum Applications |
| Presenter: | B.J. Hinch, Rutgers University |
| Authors: | A.V. Ermakov, Rutgers University B.J. Hinch, Rutgers University |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
We have developed, built and tested several prototypes of a novel mass spectrometer which operates with an entirely new basic principle - i.e. using an electrostatic resonance ion trap. This mass spectrometer has an unlimited mass range, is capable of achieving higher sensitivity, and has much faster scan rates than the widely used (larger size and) more complicated quadrupole or magnetic sector mass spectrometers. In addition, the new mass spectrometer is very compact (less than 2" long), and requires very small power (in the mW range, excluding ionizer) as it uses only static potentials and a very small RF voltage (in the 100mV range). The high sensitivity of our mass spectrometer at low background pressure (below 10-8 torr) allows for the possible construction of an easily portable analytical instrument (handheld, if necessary.) A portable system could use only a battery powered comp act ion pump, and would not require (noisy, bulky, and energy consuming) mechanical pumps.