High-field operation of submicrometer devices at atmospheric pressure

An array of micrometer-sized field emitter tips was used to produce ions in air or other gases at atmospheric pressure using only low voltages. The ions are produced by the dissociation of gaseous acids or bases in the high electric field near the tips. For example, with formic or acetic acid, ions...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTRANSDUCERS '91: 1991 International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators. Digest of Technical Papers pp. 145 - 149
Main Authors Madou, M.J., Morrison, S.R.
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 1991
Subjects
Atmosphere
Breakdown voltage
Electric breakdown
Electrodes
Electron emission
Field emitter arrays
Gases
Ionization
Low voltage
Sensor arrays
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Summary:An array of micrometer-sized field emitter tips was used to produce ions in air or other gases at atmospheric pressure using only low voltages. The ions are produced by the dissociation of gaseous acids or bases in the high electric field near the tips. For example, with formic or acetic acid, ions are formed with the tip at about -50 V; with gaseous Lewis bases or with esters plus water vapor, ions are formed with the tip at either a positive or a negative potential. No ions are detected for alcohols, alkanes, acetone, water vapor, NO/sub 2/, oxygen, nitrogen, or argon.< >
ISBN:9780879425852
0879425857
DOI:10.1109/SENSOR.1991.148824