Variable energy, high flux, ground-state atomic oxygen source

A variable energy, high flux atomic oxygen source is described which is comprised of a means for producing a high density beam of molecules which will emit O(-) ions when bombarded with electrons; a means of producing a high current stream of electrons at a low energy level passing through the high density beam of molecules to produce a combined stream of electrons and O(-) ions; means for accelerating the combined stream to a desired energy level; means for producing an intense magnetic field to confine the electrons and O(-) ions; means for directing a multiple pass laser beam through the combined stream to strip off the excess electrons from a plurality of the O(-) ions to produce ground-state O atoms within the combined stream; electrostatic deflection means for deflecting the path of the O(-) ions and the electrons in the combined stream; and, means for stopping the O(-) ions and the electrons and for allowing only the ground-state O atoms to continue as the source of the atoms of interest. The method and apparatus are also adaptable for producing other ground-state atoms and/or molecules

Generation of intense negative ion beams

An electron gun is used with a mirror electrostatic field to produce zero or near zero velocity electrons by forming a turning point in their trajectories. A gas capable of attaching zero or near zero velocity is introduced at this turning point, and negative ions are produced by the attachment or dissociative attachment process. Operation may be continuous or pulsed. Ions thus formed are extracted by a simple lens system and suitable biasing of grids

Miniature quadrupole mass spectrometer array

The present invention provides a minature quadrupole mass spectrometer array for the separation of ions, comprising a first pair of parallel, planar, nonmagnetic conducting rods each having an axis of symmetry, a second pair of planar, nonmagnetic conducting rods each having an axis of symmetry parallel to said first pair of rods and disposed such that a line perpendicular to each of said first axes of symmetry and a line perpendicular to each of said second axes of symmetry bisect each other and form a generally 90 degree angle. A nonconductive top positioning plate is positioned generally perpendicular to the first and second pairs of rods and has an aperture for ion entrance along an axis equidistant from each axis of symmetry of each of the parallel rods, a nonconductive bottom positioning plate is generally parallel to the top positioning plate and has an aperture for ion exit centered on an axis equidistant from each axis of symmetry of each of the parallel rods, means for maintaining a direct current voltage between the first and second pairs of rods, and means for applying a radio frequency voltage to the first and second pairs of rods

High-efficiency electron ionizer for a mass spectrometer array

The present invention provides an improved electron ionizer for use in a quadrupole mass spectrometer. The improved electron ionizer includes a repeller plate that ejects sample atoms or molecules, an ionizer chamber, a cathode that emits an electron beam into the ionizer chamber, an exit opening for excess electrons to escape, at least one shim plate to collimate said electron beam, extraction apertures, and a plurality of lens elements for focusing the extracted ions onto entrance apertures

Miniature micromachined quadrupole mass spectrometer array and method of making the same

The present invention provides a quadrupole mass spectrometer and an ion filter, or pole array, for use in the quadrupole mass spectrometer. The ion filter includes a thin patterned layer including a two-dimensional array of poles forming one or more quadrupoles. The patterned layer design permits the use of very short poles and with a very dense spacing of the poles, so that the ion filter may be made very small. Also provided is a method for making the ion filter and the quadrupole mass spectrometer. The method involves forming the patterned layer of the ion filter in such a way that as the poles of the patterned layer are formed, they have the relative positioning and alignment for use in a final quadrupole mass spectrometer device

From Ab Initio Potential Energy Surfaces to State-resolved Reactivities: X + H₂O ↔ HX + OH [X = F, Cl, and O(³P)] Reactions

We survey the recent advances in theoretical understanding of quantum state resolved dynamics, using the title reactions as examples. It is shown that the progress was made possible by major developments in two areas. First, an accurate analytical representation of many high-level ab initio points over a large configuration space can now be made with high fidelity and the necessary permutation symmetry. the resulting full-dimensional global potential energy surfaces enable dynamical calculations using either quasi-classical trajectory or more importantly quantum mechanical methods. the second advance is the development of accurate and efficient quantum dynamical methods, which are necessary for providing a reliable treatment of quantum effects in reaction dynamics such as tunneling, resonances, and zero-point energy. the powerful combination of the two advances has allowed us to achieve a quantitatively accurate characterization of the reaction dynamics, which unveiled rich dynamical features such as steric steering, strong mode specificity, and bond selectivity. the dependence of reactivity on reactant modes can be rationalized by the recently proposed sudden vector projection model, which attributes the mode specificity and bond selectivity to the coupling of reactant modes with the reaction coordinate at the relevant transition state. the deeper insights provided by these theoretical studies have advanced our understanding of reaction dynamics to a new level