Highly effective MEMS gas ionizer — A significant step of development of integrated ion-mass spectrometer

Abstract

This paper presents the highly effective MEMS gas ionizer. Using electron-impact ionization, we show yield up to 10%, generated ion current is at the range of 1 to 100 nA. The highest ionization yields are reached when field-emitted electrons are trapped in Penning-like electron trap, which increases impact possibility.