A description of a Dempster type double focusing mass spectrograph, converted to a mass spectrometer is reported. The latter part of the thesis deals with an investigation of a Shaw type solid ion source. Ten microgram samples of VaCl2 and SrCl2 yielded measurable ion currents of 1.0 x 10-11 amperes. Results with UF4 and PbI2 are also reported. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

<p>Mass spectrometry is widely considered to be the gold standard of elemental analysis techniques due to its ability to resolve atomic and molecular and biological species. Expanding the application space of mass spectrometry often requires the need for portable or hand-held systems for use in field work or harsh environments. While only requiring “sufficient” mass resolution to meet the needs of their application space, these miniaturized systems suffer from poor signal to background ratio which limits their sensitivity as well as their usefulness in field applications. </p><p>Spatial aperture coding techniques have been used in optical spectroscopy to achieve large increases in signal intensity without compromising system resolution. In this work similar computational methods are used in the application of these techniques to the field of magnetic sector mass spectrometry. Gains in signal intensity of 10x and 4x were achieved for 1D and 2D coding techniques (respectively) using a simple 90 degree magnetic sector test setup. Initial compatibility with a higher mass resolution double focusing Mattauch-Herzog mass spectrograph is demonstrated experimentally and with high fidelity particle tracing simulations. A novel electric sector lens system was designed to stigmate high order coded aperture patterned beam which shows simulated gains in signal intensity of 50x are achievable using these techniques.</p> / Dissertation