Claims
- 1. A mass spectrograph gas ionizer comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate having a first planar surface;
- a cavity formed within the first planar surface of said semiconductor substrate, the cavity having an inlet through which a sample of gas to be analyzed is drawn and an outlet through which the sample of gas is passed; and
- a plurality of gas ionizers formed within the cavity for ionizing the sample gas, said plurality of gas ionizers being reverse-bias p-n junction diodes,
- said reverse-bias p-n junction diodes having an alkali halide salt layer formed thereon.
- 2. The mass spectrograph gas ionizer of claim 1, wherein the alkali halide salt layer comprises a halogen atom selected from a group consisting of fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine.
- 3. The mass spectrograph gas ionizer of claim 2, wherein the alkali halide salt layer is cesium chloride.
- 4. The mass spectrograph gas ionizer of claim 2, wherein the alkali halide salt layer is cesium iodide.
- 5. The mass spectrograph gas ionizer of claim 1, wherein said alkali halide salt layer comprises an alkali metal selected from a group consisting of potassium, rubidium, cesium and francium.
- 6. The mass spectrograph gas ionizer of claim 5, wherein the alkali halide salt layer is cesium chloride.
- 7. The mass spectrograph gas ionizer of claim 5, wherein the alkali halide salt layer is cesium iodide.
CONTINUING APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/320,472 filed on Oct. 7, 1994 and which is now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/124,873, filed Sep. 22, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,115.
GOVERNMENT CONTRACT
The government of the United States of America has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. 92-F-141500-000, awarded by the United States Department of Defense, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
US Referenced Citations (16)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (3)
Entry |
"Activation of a Multi-Emitter Silicon Carbide p-n Junction Cold Cathode" by R.V. Bellau et al., J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 1971, vol. 4, pp. 2022-2030. |
"Micromachined Thermionic Emitters" by D.C. Perng, et al., J. Micromech. Microeng. 2 (1992) pp. 25-30. |
Back-biased Junction Cold Cathodes: History and State of the Art by G. can Gorkom et al., Inst. Phys. Conf. Ser. No. 99: Section 3, 2nd International Conf. on Vacuum Microelectronics, Bath, 1989 pp. 41-52. |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
320472 |
Oct 1994 |
|
Parent |
124873 |
Sep 1993 |
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