Rapid scanning mass spectrometer

Mass spectrometers and residual gas analyzers (RGA) are used in a variety of applications for analysis of volatile and semi-volatile materials. Analysis is performed by detecting fragments of gas molecules, based on their mass to charge ratio, which are generated in the mass spectrometer. When used as a detector for a gas chromatograph, they function as a means to quantitatively identify isolated volatile species which have been separated from other species via the gas chromatograph. Vacuum Technology, Inc., (VTI) produces a magnetic sector mass spectrometer/RGA which is used in many industrial and laboratory environments. In order to increase the utility of this instrument, it is desirable to increase the mass scanning speed, thereby increasing the number of applications for which it is suited. This project performed the following three upgrades on the computer interface. (1) A new electrometer was designed and built to process the signal from the detector. This new electrometer is more sensitive, over 10 times faster, and over 100 times more stable than the electrometer it will replace. (2) The controller EPROM was reprogrammed with new firmware. This firmware acts as an operating system for the interface and is used to shuttle communications between the PC and the AEROVAC mass spectrometer. (3) The voltage regulator which causes the ion selector voltage to ramp to allow ions of selected mass to be sequentially detected was redesigned and prototyped. The redesigned voltage regulator can be ramped up or down more than 100 times faster than the existing regulator. These changes were incorporated into a prototype unit and preliminary performance testing conducted. Results indicated that scanning speed was significantly increased over the unmodified version