A compact ion source combining electron-impact and thermal ionization for multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Jiajun Yu; Ali Mollaebrahimi; Samuel Ayet San Andrés; Timo Dickel; Wolfgang R Plaß; Heinrich Wilsenach; Sönke Beck; Zhuang Ge; Hans Geissel; Christine Hornung; Andrew Jacobs; Gabriella Kripko-Koncz; Anna A Kwiatkowski; Meetika Narang; Christoph Scheidenberger; Jaden Sequeira; Coulter Walls

doi:10.1063/5.0213443

A compact ion source combining electron-impact and thermal ionization for multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Rev Sci Instrum. 2024 Aug 1;95(8):083309. doi: 10.1063/5.0213443.

Authors

Jiajun Yu¹, Ali Mollaebrahimi^{2

3}, Samuel Ayet San Andrés^{2

4}, Timo Dickel^{1

2}, Wolfgang R Plaß^{1

2}, Heinrich Wilsenach^{2

5}, Sönke Beck², Zhuang Ge¹, Hans Geissel^{1

2}, Christine Hornung^{1

2}, Andrew Jacobs^{3

6}, Gabriella Kripko-Koncz^{2

7}, Anna A Kwiatkowski^{3

8}, Meetika Narang¹, Christoph Scheidenberger^{1

2

7}, Jaden Sequeira^{3

6}, Coulter Walls^{3

9}

Affiliations

¹ GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany.
² II. Physikalisches Institut, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, 35390 Gießen, Germany.
³ TRIUMF Canada's Particle Accelerator Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T2A3, Canada.
⁴ Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular CSIC - UV, 46980 Paterna, Valencia, Spain.
⁵ School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel.
⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T1Z4, Canada.
⁷ Helmholtz Research Academy Hesse for FAIR (HFHF), GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research, Campus Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany.
⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8P5C2, Canada.
⁹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T2N2, Canada.

PMID: 39212500
DOI: 10.1063/5.0213443

Abstract

A compact ion source combining electron impact and thermal ionization has been developed and commissioned in two Multiple-Reflection Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) setups at the Fragment Separator Ion Catcher at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Darmstadt, Germany, and at TRIUMF's Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science at TRIUMF Canada's particle accelerator center, Vancouver, Canada. The ion source is notable for its compact dimensions of 50 mm in height and 68 mm in diameter. The ion source is currently in daily operation at both facilities. Design, simulations, and results of combining ions from thermal and electron-impact ionization of different gases (perfluoropropane and sulfur hexafluoride) are presented in this work. The systematic effects of heating power on the thermal source were studied in detail. The source has demonstrated stable and long-term production of reference ions over a wide mass range for the MR-TOF-MS. This versatile ion source has also been used to optimize and investigate the transport of ions with different chemical reactivity and ionization potentials.