US Patent 8481928 Introduction of ions into mass spectrometers through laval nozzles

Ions entrained in a gas are transported into the vacuum system of an ion user, such as a mass spectrometer, from an ion source located outside the vacuum. The gas and ions pass through a nozzle that connects the ion source to the vacuum system and is shaped to form a supersonic gas jet in a first vacuum chamber of the vacuum system. In the first vacuum chamber, ions entrained in the supersonic gas jet are extracted electrically or magnetically and are collected, for example, by an RF ion funnel and transmitted to the ion user. The supersonic gas jet travels on and, after passing through the first vacuum chamber, the supersonic gas jet is directed into a separate pump chamber out of which the gas is pumped.