Effect of nitrogen gas on the lifetime of carbon nanotube field emitters for electron-impact ionization mass spectrometry

Autor: Rachael A. Bis, Stacy E. Snyder, Emily W. Gehrels, Paul R. Mahaffy, Kristina Ramirez, Todd King, Patrick A. Roman, Stephanie Getty
Rok vydání: 2008
Předmět:
Zdroj: SPIE Proceedings.
ISSN: 0277-786X
DOI: 10.1117/12.776914
Popis: The lifetime of a patterned carbon nanotube film is evaluated for use as the cold cathode field emission ionization source of a miniaturized mass spectrometer. Emitted current is measured as a function of time for varying partial pressures of nitrogen gas to explore the robustness and lifetime of carbon nanotube cathodes near the expected operational voltages (70-100 eV) for efficient ionization in mass spectrometry. As expected, cathode lifetime scales inversely with partial pressure of nitrogen. Results are presented within the context of previous carbon nanotube investigations, and implications for planetary science mass spectrometry applications are discussed.
Databáze: OpenAIRE