Pulsed field evaporation of ions from polar solutions

Abstract

An implementation of a technique for studying the release of ions from polar solutions under the action of electric field pulses is presented. A track membrane with nanoscale channels is used in this technique to stabilize the solution surface. The dependences of the ion yield on the parameters of extracting voltage pulses, as well as on the KI salt concentration in water−glycerol solutions have been obtained. The main advantage of the use of short pulses over a constant voltage technique is the possibility of expanding the range of the field strengths extracting ions from a solution without the risk that the solution leaks to the vacuum side of the membrane. In addition, a high stability of the extraction process is provided and the continuous operating time without membrane replacement is increased. The formation of the extraction field at the end of the channel due to the tip effect provides a fast start of the extraction process immediately after applying a voltage pulse, which also simplifies work with the membrane interface.