Thermal ionization Totally Explained

Everything about Thermal Ionisation totally explained

In thermal ionization, also referred to as surface ionization, chemically-purified material loaded onto a filament which is then heated to cause some of the material to be ionized as it boils off the hot filament. Filaments are generally flat pieces of metal around 1-2mm wide, 0.1mm thick, bent into an upside-down U shape and welded to steel posts that supply a current.

Saha-Langmuir equation

The likelihood of ionisation is a function of the filament temperature, the work function of the filament substrate and the ionization energy of the element.
This is summarised in the Saha-Langmuir equation:
ť

frac

= statistical weights of ion and neutral states

ť :

phi

= surface work function

ť :IP = element ionization potential

ť :k = Boltzmann's constant

ť :T = surface temperature

Thermal ionization mass spectrometry

One application of thermal ionization is thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). The ions being produced at the filament are directed into a mass spectrometer to analyze the elements or isotopes present in the sample.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Thermal Ionisation'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://thermal_ionization.totallyexplained.com">Thermal ionization Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.