Simple MS question

[just me]

hello I have a simple question. Is the detector part of the mass spectrometer held under vacuum conditions. Some texts i have read say it is and some say it isnt !

[Earl]

Depends on the type of mass spectrometer you are interested in.

[Rafael Chust]

Well, since what we are doing in MS is analyse ions generated by the ion source, the whole system should be held under vacuum to avoid interferences and allow the ions migrate to the detector.

The ionization chamber might be at lower vacuum - depending also the kind of ion source you have and which kind of system you are interfacing - but the detector is usually in the 10-6 mbar range.

[james little]

Maybe you are confusing mass spectrometers with ion mobility spectrometers?

see

http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1 ... 245d830100

[Rafael Chust]

Funny stuff!

I have heard about this technique in lab corridors but I did not knew they are actually in use!