Development of a three-electrode-lens drift tube for time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A three-electrode-lens drift tube for time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOP-MS) has been developed for utilizing a detector to observe photon-stimulated desorption (PSD). In spite of a small detection area, the detector has a high detection efficiency and durability to reactive gas atmosphere at high pressure. The TOF-MS performance of the drift tube was examined for PSD using single-bunch-mode synchrotron radiation on a dichlorosilane (SiH₂Cl₂)-saturated Si(001) surface. The measured acceleration and focusing-voltage dependences of the time of flight, intensity and full width at half-maximum for the peak of H⁺ and Cl⁺ PSD ions are discussed in terms of the numerical calculations of ion trajectories and focusing characteristic of the drift tube.