Microchannels

Besides standard designs special GDC designs have been developed for registration of charge patterns upon the electrostatic paper with thermoplastic potential layers with an input semiconductor target, with a microchannel plate at the input and so on. The GDC design provided the basis for series production of GDC with maximum dimensions (500 x 600 mm ) and a service life above 5000 hours. 

Figure Bl.23.10. Schematic diagram of a scattering and recoiling imaging spectrometer (SARIS). A large-area (95 X 75 nnn ), time-resolving, position-sensitive microchannel plate (MCP) detector captures a large...

For either the in-line or hybrid analyzers, the ions injected into the TOF section must all begin their flight down the TOF tube at the same instant if arrival times of ions at a detector are to be used to measure m/z values (see Chapter 26, TOF Ion Optics ). For the hybrid TOF instruments, the ion detector is usually a microchannel plate ion counter (see Chapter 30, Comparison of Multipoint Collectors (Detectors) of Ions Arrays and MicroChannel Plates ). 

An AutoSpec-TOF mass spectrometer has a magnetic sector and an electron multiplier ion detector for carrying out one type of mass spectrometry plus a TOF analyzer with a microchannel plate multipoint ion collector for another type of mass spectrometry. Either analyzer can be used separately, or the two can be run in tandem (Figure 20.4). 

A fuller description of the microchannel plate is presented in Chapter 30. Briefly, ions traveling down the flight tube of a TOF instrument are separated in time. As each m/z collection of ions arrives at the collector, it may be spread over a small area of space (Figure 27.3). Therefore, so as not to lose ions, rather than have a single-point ion collector, the collector is composed of an array of miniature electron multipliers (microchannels), which are all connected to one electrified plate, so, no matter where an ion of any one m/z value hits the front of the array, its arrival is recorded. The microchannel plate collector could be crudely compared to a satellite TV dish receiver in that radio waves of the same frequency but spread over an area are all collected and recorded at the same time of course, the multichannel plate records the arrival of ions not radio waves. 

Diagram showing a flow of ions of m/z a, b, c, etc. traveling in bunches toward the front face of a microchannel array. After each ion strikes the inside of any one microchannel, a cascade of electrons is produced and moves toward the back end of the microchannel, where they are collected on a metal plate. This flow of electrons from the microchannel plate constitutes the current produced by the incoming ions (often called the ion current but actually a flow of electrons). The ion.s of m/z a, b, c, etc. are separated in time and reach the front of the microchannel collector array one set after another. The time at which the resulting electron current flows is proportional to V m/z). 

Since the microchannel plate collector records the arrival times of all ions, the resolution depends on the resolution of the TOP instrument and on the response time of the microchannel plate. A microchannel plate with a pore size of 10 pm or less has a very fast response time of less than 2 nsec. The TOP instrument with microchannel plate detector is capable of unit mass resolution beyond m/z 3000. 

Comparison of Multipoint Collectors (Detectors) of Ions Arrays and MicroChannel Plates... 

Another form of array is called a microchannel plate detector. A time-of-flight (TOP) mass spectrometer collects ions sequentially in time and can use a point detector, but increasingly, the TOP instrument uses a microchannel plate, most particularly in an orthogonal TOP mode. Because the arrays and microchannel plates are both essentially arrays or assemblies of small electron multipliers, there may be confusion over their roles. This chapter illustrates the differences between the two arrays. 

An assemblage (array) of single-point electron multipliers in a microchannel plate is designed to detect all ions of any single m/z value as they arrive separated in time. Thus, it is not necessary for each element of the array to be monitored individually for the arrival of ions. Instead, all of... 

Bands of ions of different m/z values and separated in time in a broad ion beam traveling from left to right toward the front face of a microchannel assembly. The ions produce showers of electrons, and these are detected at the collector plate, which joins all the elements as one assemblage. 

A typical single microchannel electron multiplier. Note how the primary ion beam causes a shower of electrons to form, The shower is accelerated toward the other end of the microchannel, causing the formation of more and more secondary electrons. 

For a microchannel plate, the back end of each element is left open, as shown in Figures 30.5 or 30.6, and forms a microchannel. Any electrons emerging from any element are all detected by the one collector plate. 

Consider again two detection elements, and suppose an ion beam has been dispersed in time such that ions of m/z 100 arrive at each of several elements (Figure 30.5). In this TOF mode, the next ion of m/z 101 has not yet arrived, and the ion of m/z 99 has arrived previously. Although the m/z ions are dispersed in time over a region of space and strike different elements of the detector, they are collected and monitored simultaneously because all of the microchannels are electronically connected. The operation of the microchannel plate is much easier than that of the array because all the elements are monitored as one at the plate, while each element must be monitored separately in the array. The microchannel plate detector is tremendously useful for those cases in which ions... 

A multipoint ion collector (also called the detector) consists of a large number of miniature electron multiplier elements assembled, or constructed, side by side over a plane. A multipoint collector can be an array, which detects a dispersed beam of ions simultaneously over a range of m/z values and is frequently used with a sector-type mass spectrometer. Alternatively, a microchannel plate collector detects all ions of one m/z value. When combined with a TOP analyzer, the microchannel plate affords an almost instantaneous mass spectrum. Because of their construction and operation, microchannel plate detectors are cheaper to fit and maintain. Multipoint detectors are particularly useful for situations in which ionization occurs within a very short space of time, as with some ionization sources, or in which only trace quantities of any substance are available. For such fleeting availability of ions, only multipoint collectors can measure a whole spectrum or part of a spectrum satisfactorily in the short time available. 

The front opening of such a microchannel element has a diameter of only a few microns, but it is only one element of a whole multichannel array (Figure 31.2). Whereas the orifice to one micro-channel element covers an area of only a few square microns, an array of several thousand parallel elements covers a much larger area. In particular, the area covered by the array must be larger than... 

Timing of Electrical Pulses Resulting from Ion Arrivals at the MicroChannel Plate Collector... 

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