Design and performance of a compact Li+ ion attachment mass spectrometry system with an atmospheric sampling device.

This report describes the development of a compact ion attachment mass spectrometry system. A single turbomolecular pump was employed to fill the basic requirements for vacuum conditions simply and cost-effectively, without the need for a differential pumping stage. A Li(+) ion source was placed in the first of two vacuum chambers; a 0.4 mm aperture allowed the product ions to enter the second chamber for mass analysis. With the present system, any chemical species, including radical intermediates, can be detected at atmospheric pressure in real-time. The minimum detectable amount (at S/N = 3) of toluene was around 1.3 × 10(-12) g/s with a linearity greater than 10(4). For illustrative purposes, we tested the system on laboratory air and on aroma compounds in the headspace of the Yuzu plant, Citrus junos.