Miniature time-of-flight mass spectrometer using a flexible circuitboard reflector

An innovative design for a miniature time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer has been developed employing several newly designed components. These include: (1) a gridless, focusing ion source allowing for the use of very high extraction energies in a maintenance‐free design, (2) a new method of construction for an ion reflector using rolled flexible circuitboard material, and (3) an improved center‐hole microchannel plate detector assembly that significantly reduces the noise (or ‘ringing’) inherent in the coaxial design. A prototype time‐of‐flight instrument was constructed and used to evaluate the performance of these components. Compared to previous designs, results indicate that background noise for data acquired on this instrument is substantially reduced, resolution is improved, and the potential for mass producing this instrument in an inexpensive and rugged package for field‐portable and remote installations is significantly enhanced. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.