Plasma Sources in Analytical Mass Spectrometry

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Abstract
The recent interest in gas discharge ion sources for analytical mass spectrometry illustrates the often cyclic nature of scientific progress. The ion source capabilities of a gas discharge were discovered by Goldstein [1] in 1886 and such discharges were used by the pioneer mass spectroscopists (Thomson, Aston, and Bainbridge) as a convenient source of ions. The simplicity of design (see Fig. 1) and the high output ion currents were decisive factors in such applications. Alternative ion sources then replaced the gas discharge, to the point where the production of ions by gaseous discharge was suggested, correctly, to be of “more historical than contemporary interest” [2]. Nevertheless, new requirements and developments, as described in this paper, have once again drawn attention to the plasma ion source as having possible specialized and valuable analytical applications.

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