Ionization chamber with temperature-controlled gas feed

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9824873-B2
Application number	US-201514826388-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 14, 2015
Priority date	Sep 18, 2014
Publication date	Nov 21, 2017
Grant date	Nov 21, 2017

Abstract

The invention relates to an ionization chamber for connection to a mass spectrometer. The ionization chamber has a temperature-control block with a gas inlet and a gas channel which starts at the gas inlet and leads into a gas outlet. A temperature-control device is positioned along the gas channel and ensures that a gas flowing in the gas channel is brought to a specific temperature, i.e. it is heated or cooled, before it enters the ionization chamber. The temperature-control block has a formed part into which a structure of the gas channel is incorporated and which is fabricated by means of a sol-gel process, for example out of a glass or ceramic material.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An ionization chamber to be connected to a mass spectrometer, said ionization chamber having a temperature-control block with a gas inlet and a gas channel which starts at the gas inlet and discharges into a gas outlet, and further having a temperature-control device being positioned along the gas channel to ensure that a gas flowing in the gas channel is brought to a specific temperature before it enters the ionization chamber, wherein the temperature-control block comprises a formed part into which the structure of the gas channel is incorporated and wherein the gas inlet has one aperture on or in the temperature-control block, through which the gas is fed into the initially single gas channel, and inside the temperature-control block the gas channel branches into two or more sub-channels, which all lead to separate exit apertures in or on the temperature-control block, and through which the temperature-adjusted gas is fed into the ionization chamber.

2. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the formed part is made of a glass or ceramic material.

3. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the formed part has a disk-shaped substrate which is joined together with a second disk-shaped substrate on a flat face to create the temperature-control block.

4. The ionization chamber according to claim 3 , wherein the structure of the gas channel comprises a pattern of indentations incorporated on the joining side of the formed part.

5. The ionization chamber according to claim 3 , wherein the opposite face of the second disk-shaped substrate is smooth and planar and closes off the channel structure of the formed part on one face, or both of the lateral faces of the two substrates to be joined are provided with a recessed structure by means of a sol-gel process so that both substrates together constitute the formed part.

6. The ionization chamber according to claim 3 , wherein the two substrates are made from the same material.

7. The ionization chamber according to claim 3 , wherein the temperature-control device has a heating device which takes the form of an electrical conductor applied by vapor deposition, sputtering or a plasma beam to one side of the formed part or of the second disk-shaped substrate, and which is provided with electrical contacts in such a way that resistive heat is generated when an electric current is passed through.

8. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature-control device has a heating device which takes the form of an electrical conductor applied by vapor deposition, sputtering or a plasma beam to one side of the formed part or of the second disk-shaped substrate, and which is provided with electrical contacts in such a way that resistive heat is generated when an electric current is passed through.

9. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the gas inlet is positioned at one of a flat side and a narrow side of the formed part.

10. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the structure of the formed part, in addition to walls that separate different sections of the gas channel, also has raised features which serve as gas flow restrictions to control the gas flow dynamics.

11. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the meandering gas channel takes substantially the shape of a spiral.

12. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature-control device replicates the path of the gas channel in the formed part.

13. An ionization chamber to be connected to a mass spectrometer, said ionization chamber having a temperature-control block with a gas inlet and a gas channel which starts at the gas inlet and discharges into a gas outlet, and further having a temperature-control device being positioned along the gas channel to ensure that a gas flowing in the gas channel is brought to a specific temperature before it enters the ionization chamber, wherein the temperature-control block comprises a formed part into which the structure of the gas channel is incorporated, and wherein the temperature-control device in the temperature-control block has two parallel but fluidically separate channels, one of which enters the ionization chamber via the gas outlet, whereas the second channel is part of a closed loop which runs inside and outside the temperature-control block and has a heating or cooling device for a working medium which circulates continuously in the separate channel.

14. An ionization chamber to be connected to a mass spectrometer, said ionization chamber having a sample feed that introduces an analytical sample to be ionized there-into and further having a temperature-control block that includes a gas inlet and a meandering gas channel which starts at the gas inlet, extends over a plurality of windings or turnings and discharges into a gas outlet, the gas inlet, meandering gas channel and gas outlet being structurally separate from the sample feed, the chamber further having a temperature-control device being positioned along the meandering gas channel such that it replicates substantially a path of the meandering gas channel to ensure that a meandering gas flowing in the meandering gas channel is brought to a specific temperature indirectly via the temperature-control block, which is in thermal contact with the temperature-control device, before it enters the ionization chamber for promoting ionization of the analytical sample, wherein the temperature-control block comprises a formed part into which the structure of the meandering gas channel is incorporated and which is manufactured by means of a sol-gel process.

15. An ionization chamber to be connected to a mass spectrometer, said ionization chamber having a temperature-control block with a gas inlet and a gas channel which starts at the gas inlet and discharges into a gas outlet, and further having a temperature-control device being positioned along the gas channel to ensure that a gas flowing in the gas channel is brought to a specific temperature before it enters the ionization chamber, wherein the temperature-control block comprises a formed part into which the structure of the gas channel is incorporated, and wherein gas enters the temperature-control block through more than one gas inlet and suitably connected subchannels and is brought together in a single channel before entering the ionization chamber.

16. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature-control block forms part of the wall of the ionization chamber.

17. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the temperature-control block is located about at least one of a spray nozzle and an ion transfer aperture leading to a different pressure regime.

18. The ionization chamber according to claim 17 , further comprising a voltage generator to generate a potential gradient between the spray nozzle and a conductive member around the ion transfer aperture so as to facilitate an electrospray process.

19. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the gas channel is configured to receive and pass through one of an inert gas and a reactive gas.

20. The ionization chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the formed part is manufactured by means of a sol-gel process.

Assignees

• Bruker Daltonik Gmbh

Inventors

• Brekenfeld Andreas
• Engel Martin

Classifications

• H01J49/045 Primary

  with means for using a nebulising gas, i.e. pneumatically assisted · CPC title

• H01J49/0422

  for gaseous samples (interfaces to gas chromatographs G01N30/7206) · CPC title

• H01J49/0486 Primary

  with means for monitoring the sample temperature · CPC title

• H01J49/10

  Ion sources; Ion guns · CPC title

• H01J49/0477 Primary

  using a hot fluid · CPC title