Daly detectors

The Daly detector uses a photomultiplier rather than an electron multiplier. Ions leaving the analyzer are directed onto a conversion dynode, and the ejected electrons are accelerated onto a plate coated with a fast-acting scintillant. Each electron releases a photon from the scintillant. The photons then enter a photomultiplier tube and impact on a photocathode, producing electrons (photoelectric effect) and initiating an electron cascade (Pigure 2.40). The output from the photomultiplier is further amplified electronically, similarly to the output of dynode type electron multipliers. The level of amplification is similar to that of electron multipliers. Photomultiplier tubes last longer than electron multipliers, but the scintillant-coated plates require replacement every few years. 

---

A scintillator, sometimes known as the Daly detector, is an ion collector that is especially useful for studies on metastable ions. The principle of operation is illustrated in Figure 28.4. As with the first dynode of an electron multiplier, the arrival of a fast ion causes electrons to be emitted, and they are accelerated toward a second dynode. In this case, the dynode consists of a substance (a scintillator) that emits photons (light). The emitted light is detected by a commercial photon... 

Detection systems. Prior to the past decade, most instruments used for uranium-series analysis were single-collector instruments, for which ion beams of the various isotopes are cycled onto a single low-intensity detector, usually with electronics operating in pulse counting mode (Chen et al. 1986 Edwards et al. 1987 Bard et al. 1990 Goldstein et al. 1989 Volpe et al. 1991 Pickett et al. 1994), in order to measure the low-intensity ion beams of °Th, Pa, Pa, Ra and Ra. Daly detectors and... 

Figure 6. Schematic outline of the first commercially available multiple collector ICPMS, the Plasma 54, after Halhday et al. (1995). This instrument uses Nier-Johnson double-focusing and is equipped with eight independently adjustable Faraday collectors. The axial collector can be wound down to provide access to a Daly detector equipped with ion counting capabilities and a second-stage energy filter for high abundance sensitivity measurements. The sample may be introduced to the plasma source by either solution aspiration or laser ablation.

Pyrolysis Field ionisation (FI) Quadrupole (Q) Daly detector... 

Figure 4.2 The micro-Flow Tube Reaetor/Mass Spectrometer instrument. 1 — heated gas inlet/vacuum feedthrough, 2 — hot zone of flow tube, 3 — multiion source block, 4 — ion guide, 5 — quadrupole mass spectrometer, 6 — ion guides, 7 — reaction cell, 8 — quadrupole mass spectrometer, 9 — daly detector... 

A further alternative to the Faraday cup - the Daly detector13 - is illustrated in Figure 4.6 a. In the Daly detector a conversion dynode, which is at a high negative potential ( — 40 kV), is applied to convert ions into electrons. The Daly detector was developed from an earlier device using a scintillator (e.g., of phosphorus) for the direct detection of positive ions. 

As with mass analyzers, many types of mass detectors equipped with an electron multiplier are available. Most common mass detectors are the chan-neltron, Daly detector, electron multiplier tubes, and the Faraday cup. All generate a current when charged analytes generated in the source and separated in the analyzer impinge on them. This current is recorded as a function of the masses selected by the electrical-field settings. 

Figure 14 Detectors (a) Discrete dynode electron multiplier, (b) Dual-mode discrete dynode electron multiplier detector, (c) Channeltron electron multiplier, (d) Faraday collector. (f) Daly detector.

The electro-optical ion detector (EOID) combines ion and photon detection devices. This type of detector operates by converting ions to electrons and then to photons. The most common electro-optical ion detector is called the Daly detector. As shown in Figure 3.7, this type of detector is made up of two conversion dynodes, a scintillation or phosphorescent screen and a photomultiplier. This device allows the detection of both positive and negative ions. As for the electron multipliers, ions from the analyser strike a dynode. In the positive mode, ions are accelerated towards the dynode that carries a negative potential, whereas in the negative mode, ions are accelerated towards the positive dynode. Secondary electrons... 

Another electro-optical ion detector, which is called the electro-optical array detector, allows the simultaneous measurement of ions spatially separated along the focal plane of the mass spectrometer. It combines the microchannel plate and Daly detector. The ions are converted in a microchannel plate into electrons that are amplified. The released secondary electrons finally strike a phosphorescent screen that emits photons. These photons are then detected with a photodiode array or CCD detector. This array detector acts as electronic photoplates. 

---