Mass spectrometric study of gas clusters by a high-voltage electron beam

The possibility of using a high-voltage electron beam as an ionizer of supersonic clusters of argon and methane gas jets in molecular beam mass spectrometry are investigated. The formation of clusters occurs when the gas flows through the supersonic nozzle into the vacuum. The ionization of the flow is carried out by electrons with an energy of 10 keV. The diaphragm (skimmer) from jet forms a molecular beam, which passes into the input aperture of the mass spectrometer through the sections of the installation. The ion focusing is provided with the use of collimating diaphragms as electrostatic lenses. A quadrupole mass spectrometer is used as a cluster ion analyzer. The obtained mass spectra are compares with the signals observes with the usage of traditional molecular beam mass spectrometry, in which ionization of particles occurs in the electron analyzer's own block with energies of the 100 eV order. The justification of the standard approach shortcomings is proposed. Obtained data shows chemical reactions in hydrocarbons and cluster magic numbers for argon, obtained result is consistent with known data.