High-efficiency cross-beam magnetic electron-impact source for improved miniature Mattauch-Herzog mass spectrometer performance.

We describe a newly designed cross-beam magnetic electron-impact ion source (CBM-EI). We demonstrate its superiority in comparison with a conventional source (CB-EI) when used with a commercial miniature sector-field-type, non-scanning mass spectrometer featuring Mattauch-Herzog geometry (MH-MS) and a permanent sector-field magnet. This paper clearly shows the value of the CBM-EI for enhancing MH-MS sensitivity. Unlike secondary electron-multiplier type detectors, the pixelated detector (IonCCD™) used in the commercial MH-MS has no gain. The MH-MS/IonCCD system is therefore challenged to compete with time-of-flight and quadrupole MS systems due to their higher ion transmissions and detector gains. Using the new CBM-EI, we demonstrate an instrument sensitivity increase of 20-fold to 100-fold relative to the CB-EI-equipped instrument. This remarkable signal increase by the simple addition of the magnet assembly arises from the magnet-induced gyromotion of the thermionic electrons, which vastly increases the effective path length of the electrons through the ionization region, and the collimated nature of the electron flux, which optimizes the ion transmission through the 100-μm object slit of the MH-MS. Some or all of the realized sensitivity increase may be exchanged for an increase in resolution and/or mass range through the use of a narrower object slit, or for a reduction in ion-source pressure to limit quenching. The CBM-EI should facilitate development of a differentially pumped ion source to extend the lifetime of the filament, especially in otherwise intractable applications associated with oxidizing and corrosive samples.