Fabrication and operation of triode electron emitters as ion source for miniature mass spectrometer

The miniaturization of mass spectrometers should strengthen their usefulness in many applications as long as adequate performance is preserved. However, the use of laser-ionization or conventional filament-ionization sources severely hampered miniaturization of mass spectrometers, whereas triode electron emitters with carbon nanoparticle (CNP) film cathodes opened a new path towards realization of micro mass spectrometer since the fabrication of sufficiently small ion sources became possible using a conventional photolithography process.