Patent 7772564 was granted and assigned to FEI Company on August, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The invention relates to an electron impact gas ion with high brightness and low energy spread. This high brightness is achieved by injecting electrons in a small ionization volume (from less than 1 μm to several tens of micrometers in size) from one side and extracting ions from the other. The electrons injected are produced by a high brightness electron source, such as a field emitter or a Schottky emitter.