title: A time of flight mass spectrometer with field free interaction region for low energy charged particle-molecule collision studies.
abstract: A new design of a linear time of flight mass spectrometer (ToFMS) is implemented that gives nearly field-free interaction region without compromising on the mass resolution. The design addresses problems that would arise in a conventional Wiley-McLaren type of ToFMS: (i) field leakages into the charged particle-molecule interaction region from various components of the mass spectrometer, including that through the high transparency mesh used to obtain evenly distributed electric fields; (ii) complete collection and transportation of the ions produced in the interaction region to the detector, which is essential for high sensitivity and cross section measurements. This ToFMS works over a wide range of masses from H(+) to a few hundred Daltons and would be the most suitable for low energy charged particle-molecule interaction studies. Performance of the ToFMS has been tested by measuring the partial ionization cross sections for electron impact on CF(4).
authors: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai 400 005, India.
authors: K C
authors: KC
authors: Rao
authors: V S
authors: VS
authors: Prabhudesai
authors: S V K
authors: SV
authors: Kumar