EP0037455A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Ion source
Assignee: Hitachi Ltd
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Filing: 1981-02-06
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2001-02-06
Abstract
Abstract An EHD ion source according to this invention has an extractor (4) and a control electrode (11). The extractor (4) is disposed below a tip (2) and functions to apply an electric field to a substance (3) to-be-ionized wetting a pointed end of the tip (2), so as to derive ions from the pointed tip end. The control electrode (11) is disposed in the vicinity of the pointed end of the tip (2) and functions to apply an electric field to the substance (3) to-be-ionized in its molten state so as to supply the pointed tip end with the substance (3) to-be-ionized in a suitable amount. As a result, a great ion current (5) which is substantially proportional to an extracting voltage (6) can be derived from the pointed tip end.
Inventors
- 👤 Tohru Ishitani
- 👤 Hideo Todokoro
- 👤 Hifumi Tamura
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 09:29
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01J; H01J27/00; H01J27/02; H01J27/26
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
139 words
An ion source comprising an electrode (10;20;30) which has a holding part (8;19) for holding a substance (3) to-be-ionized maintained in a molten state, and a pointed end part (2;15;25) formed in the shape of a needle, and an extractor (4) disposed below said electrode (10;20;30) for applying an electric field to said pointed end part.(2;15;25) of said electrode (10;20;30) wetted with said substance (3) to-be-ionized and to extract ions of said substance (3) to-be-ionized from said pointed end part (2;15;25), characterized by a control electrode (11) disposed in the vicinity of said pointed end part (2;15;25) for applying an electric field to said substance (3) to-be-ionized held by said holding part (8;19) of the first-mentioned electrode (10; 20; 30) and controlling the quantity of said substance (3) to-be-ionized to be supplied to said pointed end part (2;15; 25).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
139 words
An ion source comprising an electrode (10;20;30) which has a holding part (8;19) for holding a substance (3) to-be-ionized maintained in a molten state, and a pointed end part (2;15;25) formed in the shape of a needle, and an extractor (4) disposed below said electrode (10;20;30) for applying an electric field to said pointed end part.(2;15;25) of said electrode (10;20;30) wetted with said substance (3) to-be-ionized and to extract ions of said substance (3) to-be-ionized from said pointed end part (2;15;25), characterized by a control electrode (11) disposed in the vicinity of said pointed end part (2;15;25) for applying an electric field to said substance (3) to-be-ionized held by said holding part (8;19) of the first-mentioned electrode (10; 20; 30) and controlling the quantity of said substance (3) to-be-ionized to be supplied to said pointed end part (2;15; 25).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
The ion source of claim 1, characterized in that said first-mentioned electrode (10;20) consists of a filament (1;14) which is in the shape of a hairpin, and a tip (2;15) which has a needle-like pointed end and which is connected to a central part (8) of said filament (1;14).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
68 words
The ion source of claim 2, characterized in that the angle (a) at which a tangent (17) to a side line (16) of said filament (14) intersects with the center line (18) of said tip (15) lies in a range of 35 ° to 55 °, and wherein the distance (d) from the intersection point to said pointed end of said tip (15) does not exceed 1 mm.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
65 words
The ion source of claim 1, characterized in that said first-mentioned electrode (30) consists of a pipe (21) which has a pointed end part drawn in the shape of a cone, and a needle (25) which is arranged so that it passes through the center of said pipe (21) and that its pointed end may protrude beyond said pointed end part of said pipe (21).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
68 words
The ion source of claim 4, characterized in that the angle (a) at which a tangent (24) to a side line (23) of said pointed end part intersects with the center line (22) of said needle (25) lies in a range of 35 ° - 55 °, and wherein the distance from the intersection point to said pointed end of said needle (25) does not exceed 1 mm.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
The ion source of any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said first-mentioned electrode (10;20;30) has heating means (7) for maintaining said substance (3) to-be-ionized in said molten state.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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