An ion source for radiofrequency-pulsed glow discharge time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A Grimm-type glow discharge (GD) has been designed and constructed as an ion source for pulsed radio-frequency GD spectrometry when coupled to an orthogonal time of flight mass spectrometer. Pulse shapes of argon species and analytes were studied as a function of the discharge conditions using a new in-house ion source (UNIOVI GD) and results have been compared with a previous design (PROTOTYPE GD). Different behavior and shapes of the pulse profiles have been observed for the two sources evaluated, particularly for the plasma gas ionic species detected. In the more analytically relevant region (afterglow), signals for Ar-40(+) with this new design were negligible, while maximum intensity was reached earlier in time for (41)(ArH)(+) than when using the PROTOTYPE GD. Moreover, while maximum Ar-40(+) signals measured along the pulse period were similar in both sources, (41)(ArH)(+) and (80)(Ar-2)(+) signals tend to be noticeable higher using the PROTOTYPE chamber. The UNIOVI GD design was shown to be adequate for sensitive direct analysis of solid samples, offering linear calibration graphs and good crater shapes. Limits of detection (LODs) are in the same order of magnitude for both sources, although the UNIOVI source provides slightly better LODs for those analytes with masses slightly higher than (41)(ArH)(+). (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.