Graduation Year

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Electrical Engineering

Degree Granting Department

Electrical Engineering

Major Professor

Jing Wang, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Andrew Hoff, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Rudy Schlaf, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Ashok Kumar, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Friso van Amerom, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Tim Short, Ph.D.

Keywords

Deep Reactive Ion Etching, Handheld Low-Power Chemical Sensor, Micromachined Ion Traps, Planar Ion Funnel

Abstract

This PhD dissertation reports the development of miniature ion optics components of a mass spectrometer (MS) with the ultimate goal to lay the foundation for a compact low-power micromachined MS (µMS) for broad-range chemical analysis. Miniaturization of two specific components a) RF ion traps and b) an ion funnel have been investigated and miniature low-power versions of these components have been developed and demonstrated successfully in lab experiments. Power savings, simpler electronics and packaging schemes required to operate the micro-scale RF cylindrical ion traps have been the key motivation driving this research. Microfabricated cylindrical ion traps (µCITs) and arrays in silicon, silicon-on-insulator and stainless steel substrates have been demonstrated and average power of as low as 55 mW for a low mass range (28 to 136 amu) and mass spectra with better than a unit-mass-resolution have been recorded. For the ion funnel miniaturization effort, simple assembly, small form factor and ease of integration have been emphasized. A simplification of the conventional 3D ion funnel design, called the planar ion funnel, has been developed in a single plate and has been tested to demonstrate ion funneling at medium vacuum levels (1E-5 Torr) using DC voltages and power less than 0.5 W. Miniaturization of these components also enables use of other novel ion optics components, packaging and integration, which will allow a new class of µMS architectures amenable for radical miniaturization.

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