Time of flight mass spectrometer

Claim 1

A time-of-flight mass spectrometer for obtaining a mass spectrum of a sample of interest in the said state, said sample having at least one surface comprising: a means for supporting the sample to be analyzed, a quantity of fissile material positioned relative to said supporting means, said material being such that when a nucleus of the material undergoes fission it will be split into two fragments, a first fragment which will be emitted from said source to impinge upon a surface of said sample and desorb ions from said surface and a second fragment which will be emitted in about the opposite direction, a flight region positioned to receive said desorbed ions, means for accelerating said desorbed ions away from said sample surface and into said flight region, means for detecting said second fission fragment emitted from said fissile material at about the same moment that ions are desorbed from said sample surface, said means generating a first electrical signal when said second fission fragment is detected, means for detecting said desorbed ions, said means positioned at the end of said flight region opposite said sample, said means generating a second electrical signal when a desorbed ion is detected, and means for measuring the time elapsed between said first electrical signal and said second electrical signal, said time being determinative of the mass of each desorbed ion respectively.