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‘Fast atom bombardment’—A rediscovered method for mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
Devienne F. Marcel,
Roustan JeanClaude
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
organic mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 0030-493X
DOI - 10.1002/oms.1210170405
Subject(s) - mass spectrometry , ion , chemistry , ion source , analyser , ion beam , atomic physics , ion gun , secondary ion mass spectrometry , analytical chemistry (journal) , sputtering , residual gas analyzer , materials science , physics , thin film , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chromatography
In 1966, Devienne and co‐workers studied extensively the sputtering of various target materials by a high energy molecular beam obtained by charge exchange. They obtained secondary ions that characterized for instance, organic and biological materials. These ions were analysed by mass spectrometry. This method was developed to be patented and many devices were studied. The principle of the apparatus constructed is very simple. An ion source produces an ion current of some microamperes. The ions are accelerated at some keV, and injected into a collision chamber in order to obtain a neutral beam by resonant charge exchange. The residual ions are deflected and this beam bombards the target. The target itself is surrounded by a small metal cylinder which is held at an appropriate potential to extract the positive or negative secondary ions formed. The ion beam is accelerated and focused into the entrance slit of a mass spectrometer. After the first devices, two types of apparatus were built in 1973 and 1975. With the first one, the analysis of the masses was obtained only by an electromagnet. The energy range of the secondary ions varied from 1 to 10 keV. The second apparatus was formed by an electromagnet, a dissociation chamber, and an electrostatic analyser. With this apparatus, it was possible to measure directly masses as large as 6000 daltons. With the first apparatus it was possible to study the adsorption of oxygen on silicon, and to obtain spectra, of many organics such as camphor, nitrodiphenylamine and, as in the earlier device, the spectrum of a non‐volatile organic liquid diethylhexyl azelate, was obtained. After studies on different uranium compounds and their dissociations, the second apparatus was devoted to the formation and study of the chemical properties of clusters.