Mobility spectrometer ion source has combined ultra-violet light, alpha emitter and beta emitter for self-calibration

摘要

An ion source for an ion mobility spectrometer carries out optical and particle beam ionization. The exciter source is a combined ultra-violet light, an alpha emitter and a beta emitter. The alpha and beta emitter generate a positive cluster ion peak (RIP) which is employed for self-calibration of the drift time, simultaneously generating negative oxygen and hydrogen cluster ions. Preferred Features: The cluster ions serve to ionize traces of halogen hydrocarbons. The UV light source ionizes all traces of organic molecules. The beta radiation emitter is a tritium insert within the ion source grid metallic coating. The beta emitter has 63Ni and the alpha emitter grid has 241Am or 226Ra. The UV lamp has a median photon emission energy of 10.6 eV.