MCH Heater Used for Mass Spectrometers

MCH Heater Used for Mass Spectrometers

Mass spectrometers are a technique for analyzing and identifying chemical substances by arranging gaseous ions in electromagnetic fields based on their mass-to-charge ratios.

Mass spectrometers can detect most analytes per borehole, so it is essential to have a non-contaminating heat source. In addition, competing requirements for instrument designs to reduce size and complexity while increasing sensitivity are being challenged.

Mass spectrometer heating elements, also called source heaters or gas line heaters, are used in mass spectrometers to turn the sample (typically in an aqueous or organic solution) into a vapor for analysis. Before the analyzer and detector areas, the heaters are part of the sample conditioning system, where the vaporized sample is then bombarded by ionized high-energy electrons and analyzed.

Heaters used in mass spectrometers are compact in design and provide a fairly high power density. They are fast responding and operate at temperatures up to 400 °C. They include internal temperature sensors for accurate control and limiting.