Research on a miniature Mattauch-Herzog mass spectrometer designed for space exploration

Abstract

Mass spectrometers have gained increasing importance in recent space missions. This paper presents the development of a miniature Mattauch-Herzog mass spectrometer for mass analysis. The mass spectrometer consists of an electron ionization (EI) source, an electrostatic and magnetic mass analyzer, and a focal plane detector. The construction of the EI source is based on a study of the impact of electrode voltages on ion focusing performance and ion transmission efficiency using the phase space method in the SIMION-8.1 software. The SIMION model of the mass analyzer is utilized to analyze the effects of electrostatic field voltage and magnetic fringe field on the ion beam. Experimental results from the instrument prototype demonstrate that the ion beam is influenced by the electrostatic field in a manner consistent with the simulation results of the SIMION model. The theoretical mass-to-charge ratio range of this double focusing mass spectrometer (DFMS) is 8amu–300amu, and it is capable of distinguishing isotopes with mass differences larger than 0.3amu, such as Ne. The N2 peak width at Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) is 0.4amu, the mass resolution is 70.0, and the minimum detectable pressure of N2 is 2.8 × 10−9Pa. The Xe peak width (FWHM) is 1.3amu, the mass resolution is 101.5, and the minimum detectable pressure of Xe is 4.4 × 10−9Pa.