The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 19, 1995
Filed:
Sep. 10, 1993
Seiko Instruments Inc., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An inductively coupled mass spectrometer for detecting impurities present in infinitesimal concentrations in a sample. The basic spectrometer structure includes: a nebulizer connected to receive a solution of the sample and a gas for causing the nebulizer to produce a spray in the form of a mist composed of droplets of the sample solution; a spray chamber disposed for receiving the spray and classifying the droplets in the spray; a plasma torch operative for conducting a stream composed of the sample solution and at least one gas; a high frequency power source and a work coil coupled to the plasma torch for supplying energy to generate and maintain a plasma which ionizes the sample solution in the stream; and a mass detector disposed for receiving the ionized sample solution from the plasma torch and operative for detecting impurities in the ionized sample solution. The spray chamber further receives an additional flow of argon gas which acts to suppress the generation of molecular ions in the plasma, so that the analytical performance for detecting impurities, such as Fe or K or the like, is improved.