Vacuum Ultraviolet Lamp Based Magnetic Field Enhanced Photoelectron Ionization and Single Photon Ionization Source for Online Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

A magnetic field enhanced photoelectron ionization (MEPEI) source combined with single photon ionization (SPI) was developed for an orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometer (oaTOFMS). A commercial radio frequency (rf) powered vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) lamp was used as SPI light source, and the photoelectrons generated by photoelectric effect were accelerated to induce electron ionization (EI). The MEPEI was obtained by applying a magnetic field of about 800 G with a permanent annular magnet. Compared to a nonmagnetic field photoelectron ionization source, the signal intensities for SO2, SF6, O2, and N2 in MEPEI were improved more than 2 orders with the photoelectron energy around 20 eV, while most of the characteristics of soft ionization still remained. Simulation with SIMION showed that the sensitivity enhancement in MEPEI was ascribed to the increase of the electron moving path and the improvement of the electrons transmission. The limits of detection for SO2 and benzene were 750 and 80 ...