Our UHV4 system is a modular electrospray deposition source capable of producing a molecular beam from an electrosprayed solution at pressures typically in the 10-8 mbar range. The system features a desolvation entrance capillary, two differentially pumped molecular beam skimmers and a final differentially pumped aperture. The source can be mounted in any orientation on an available CF40 (2.75") port of your UHV system. The UHV4 kit is therefore supplied complete with an electrospray source head (incorporating a 4-axis manipulator for total flexibility in the emitter positioning), the liquid delivery system, 5 reusable stainless steel emitters, and a virtually indestructible case no bigger than your airline hand baggage for easy transportation to different labs. Every UHV4 system is hand built and individually tested to ensure its performance in terms of deposition rate, base pressure and depositions pressure.
UHV4 Electrospray deposition system, £POA
The 2011 Model has been upgraded with a new front end which allows the entrance capillary flange to be removed without affecting the precise alignment of the skimmer stack. The entire entrance capillary flange can be swapped for a UHV window (supplied) to allow the user to optically align the system with the target. We've also improved the design of the exit aperture so that it can be firmly mounted to the UHV4 before attaching your system, preserving the alignment.
The process of electrospray ionisation has been around for many years as a means to getting large involatile molecules into the gas-phase region of a mass spectrometer. Using the technique to deposit molecules on surfaces under UHV conditions opens the surface science world to a wealth of new molecules that are either too large or fragile to be thermally evaporated.
In the UHV4 system, molecules start their journey to the surface in a liquid solution (aqueous or organic). This is fed through a high-voltage emitter capillary precisely aligned with an entrance capillary held at a lower potential. The electric field causes the liquid to be drawn downfield into a cone-jet, which subsequently forms a plume of solvated molecular ions. These ions are sampled into the first vacuum stage by the entrance capillary where the majority of desolvation takes place. From there, a series of differentially pumped molecular beam skimmers transport the molecules (with increasing desolvation) down to pressures in the 10-8 to 10-7 mbar range where they impinge on the sample surface.
The spot size is approxiately 3mm diameter at a sample distance of 25 cm from the final aperture.
Datasheet
UHV4 Ultra-high vacuum compatible electrospray deposition source
