Study on Measuring the Resonant Frequency of Air Core Transformer on Mass Spectrometer with a Test Coil

Abstract

Air core transformer is an essential part of mass spectrometer. Test coil is often used to measure its resonant frequency with the advantages of easy installation and high sensitivity. However, the influence of test coil while it is installed close to the working coils on the transformer is not studied before. To reveal the influence of test coil and determine the right position to install, two experiments using test coil and opened probe respectively for the measurement are conducted. Since the opened probe has little load effect on the original transformer impedance system, it can be used to validate the influence of test coil. By comparing the two experimental results, we find that the right position to install the test coil is on the further side of the primary coil to the secondary coil. This work allows us to integrate the test coil with the air core transformer to monitor the resonant frequency in real-time.