Sensors (Feb 2024)

Physical Trace Gas Identification with the Photo Electron Ionization Spectrometer (PEIS)

  • Theodor Doll,
  • Victor M. Fuenzalida,
  • Helmut Schütte,
  • Stefan Gaßmann,
  • Juan J. Velasco-Velez,
  • Robert Köhler,
  • Alex Kontschev,
  • Thomas Haas,
  • Bert Ungethüm,
  • Andreas Walte,
  • Jonas Oberröhrmann,
  • Adrian Onken,
  • Kasimir M. Philipp,
  • Minh-Hai Nguyen,
  • Thomas Lenarz,
  • Achim Walter Hassel,
  • Wolfgang Viöl

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/s24041256
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 4
p. 1256

Abstract

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Chemosensor technology for trace gases in the air always aims to identify these compounds and then measure their concentrations. For identification, traceable methods are sparse and relate to large appliances such as mass spectrometers. We present a new method that uses the alternative traceable measurement of the ionization energies of trace gases in a way that can be miniaturized and energetically tuned. We investigate the achievable performance. Since tunable UV sources are not available for photoionization, we take a detour via impact ionization with electrons, which we generate using the photoelectric effect and bring to sharp, defined energies on a nanoscale in the air. Electron impact ionization is thus possible at air pressures of up to 900 hPa. The sensitivity of the process reaches 1 ppm and is equivalent to that of classic PID. With sharpened energy settings, substance identification is currently possible with an accuracy of 30 meV. We can largely explain the experimental observations with the known quantum mechanical models.

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