Engineering Commons^™

An Ion Detection Scheme Employing Solid State Devices For Use In Portable Mass Spectrometers, Sanjiv Nath Pant

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a solid state approach to the ion detection system used in the back-end of modern mass spectrometers. Although various techniques already exist to detect ions – even with the sensitivity of a single particle, the existing techniques require high voltage or lower operation temperature to counteract the noise inherent in the system. The suggested design presents an alternative to the more popular detection system whereby the requirement of high operation voltage or low operation temperature can be precluded. This is made possible through the gate capacitance of a Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET). This thesis …

Single Ion Detection For Mass Spectrometry Using Low Capacitance Mosfets, Matthew Hamblin, Aaron Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Mass spectrometry is an important tool for analytical chemistry that allows the chemical composition of a compound to be determined. In order to do so, it separates the compound into ions, and then detects the number of ions of different masses.

The charge on a single ion is very small, making it difficult to measure. In order to overcome this, current mass spectrometers must use methods such as electron multipliers to create a cascading effect of electrons until a measurable charge is reached or cryodetectors that measure the thermal change of an ion hit at low temperatures.¹ Using methods …