METHOD FOR THE IONISATION OF GASEOUS SAMPLES BY MEANS OF DIELECTRIC BARRIER DISCHARGE AND FOR THE SUBSEQUENT ANALYSIS OF THE GENERATED SAMPLE IONS IN AN ANALYSIS DEVICE

摘要

The invention relates to a method for the ionisation of gaseous samples by means of dielectric barrier discharge and for the subsequent analysis of the generated sample ions in an analysis device, in particular a mass spectrometer or an ion mobility spectrometer, wherein the sample ions are generated via a plasma which is created via a dielectric barrier discharge, wherein the dielectric barrier discharge is generated in that a noble gas is supplied via a capillary made of a dielectric material, wherein an AC voltage is applied by means of two electrically insulated electrodes arranged adjacent to the output region of the capillary on the outside of the capillary and the gaseous sample is supplied to the output region of the capillary, wherein an unbalanced square wave voltage is applied as the AC voltage, wherein the cycle length of the active voltage signal is set to be substantially shorter than the cycle length of the inactive voltage signal.