Atmospheric pressure ionization inlet for mass spectrometers

1. An atmospheric pressure ion source for providing ions to a mass spectrometer system comprising:

a capillary having a first opening, a second opening, and passage extending from the first opening to the second opening, the first opening being in a first pressure region at about atmospheric pressure and the second opening being in the second pressure region at a partial vacuum of about 3 Torr or less, the capillary being positioned so that during operation of the mass spectrometry system ions enter the passage via the first opening and exit the passage via the second opening;

a vacuum chamber defining the second pressure region and having an inlet configured to receive ions from the second opening of the capillary, the vacuum chamber including an extracting aperture positioned so that during operation of the mass spectrometry system ions enter a third pressure region at about 10 −2 Torr or less via the extracting aperture at a location of a turbulent region in the gas flow:

wherein the vacuum chamber is configured such that during operation of the mass spectrometry system alternating regions of laminar flow and turbulent flow are produced in the gas flow.

2. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the turbulent region comprises a region exhibiting a Mach disk in the gas flow.

3. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the extraction orifice is located at a location determined based at least in part on a calculation of ⅔(P0/P1) ½ where P0 and P1 are the pressures of the first and second pressure regions respectively.

4. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the extracting aperture is at a location subsequent to a quiet zone in the gas flow in the vacuum chamber.

5. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the extracting aperture is at a location subsequent to a quiet zone and at least one region of laminar flow in the gas flow in the vacuum chamber.

6. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the extracting aperture is at a location associated a first region of turbulent flow and subsequent to a quiet zone and at least one region of laminar flow.

7. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the capillary has a diameter less than about 1 mm and length greater than 5 cm.

8. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , further comprising a voltage source connected to the aperture configured to produce a substantially orthogonal extracting field perpendicular to the gas flow in the second pressure region.

9. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the capillary has A diameter of from about 300 μm to about 1000 μm and the vacuum chamber has a diameter of from about 5 mm to about 20 mm.

10. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 5 , wherein the capillary has a diameter of from about 50 μm to about 300 μm and the vacuum chamber has a diameter of from about 2 mm to about 10 mm.

11. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 5 , wherein the capillary has a diameter of from about 700 μm to about 2000 μm and the vacuum chamber has a diameter of from about 15 mm to about 50 mm.

12. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , further comprising a quadrupole mass analyzer positioned in the third vacuum region.

13. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the capillary is configured to form a region of laminar flow near the second opening of the capillary.

14. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , further comprising a pump configured to form the partial vacuum in the second pressure region and the vacuum in the third pressure region.

15. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the first opening of the capillary is oriented in a direction that is 90 degrees from a direction of the extraction orifice.

16. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the first opening of the capillary is oriented in a direction that is the same as the direction of the extraction orifice but offset from the extraction orifice.

17. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , further comprising an electrospray ion source configured to produce an electrospray near the first opening of the capillary.

18. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , wherein the capillary is a heated capillary.

19. The atmospheric pressure ion source of claim 1 , further comprising a pusher plate opposite the extraction aperture in the vacuum chamber.

20. An atmospheric pressure ion source for providing ions to a mass spectrometer system comprising:

a capillary having a first opening, a second opening, and passage extending from the first opening to the second opening, the first opening being in a first pressure region at about atmospheric pressure and the second opening being in the second pressure region at a partial vacuum of about 3 Torr or less, the capillary being positioned so that during operation of the mass spectrometry system ions enter the passage via the first opening and exit the passage via the second opening;

a vacuum chamber defining the second pressure region and having an inlet configured to receive ions from the second opening of the capillary, the vacuum chamber including an extracting aperture positioned so that during operation of the mass spectrometry system ions enter a third pressure region at about 10-2 Torr or less via the extracting aperture at a location of a turbulent region in the gas flow;

wherein the vacuum chamber is configured such that during operation of the mass spectrometry system alternating regions of laminar flow and turbulent flow are produced in the gas flow and the extracting aperture is at a location associated a first region of turbulent flow.

21. An atmospheric pressure ion source for providing ions to a mass spectrometer system comprising:

a capillary having a first opening, a second opening, and passage extending from the first opening to the second opening, the first opening being in a first pressure region at about atmospheric pressure and the second opening being in the second pressure region at a partial vacuum of about 3 Torr or less, the capillary being positioned so that during operation of the mass spectrometry system ions enter the passage via the first opening and exit the passage via the second opening;

a voltage source connected to the aperture configured to produce a substantially orthogonal extracting field perpendicular to the gas flow in the second pressure region;

a vacuum chamber defining the second pressure region and having an inlet configured to receive ions from the second opening of the capillary, the vacuum chamber including an extracting aperture positioned so that during operation of the mass spectrometry system ions enter a third pressure region at about 10-2 Torr or less via the extracting aperture at a location of a turbulent region in the gas flow;

wherein the vacuum chamber is configured such that during operation of the mass spectrometry system alternating regions of laminar flow and turbulent flow are produced in the gas flow, the turbulent region comprising a region exhibiting a Mach disk in the gas flow;

wherein the capillary has a diameter of from about 300 μm to about 1000 μm and the vacuum chamber has a diameter of from about 5 mm to about 20 mm; and

wherein the capillary is a heated capillary.