Patent ID: 6768119
Filing Date: 2004-07-27
Classification: H01J

Abstract:
A method of producing a stream of charged particles in a low pressure environment that comprises the following essential steps:(a) supplying a flow of a non-corrosive and non-metallic liquid, said liquid having a vapor pressure below 0.1 torr at 20Â° C., a viscosity coefficient below 2 g/cm/s at 20Â° C., and an electrical conductivity greater than 0.04 S/m at 20Â° C. to a region maintained at a pressure below 100 millitorr in which there is an electric field sufficiently intense to disperse said liquid into said low pressure region as a stream of small charged particles; and (b) providing one or more electrodes having configurations, potentials and positions such that all or a selected part of said stream of small charged particles will flow in a desired direction at a desired velocity; wherein said small charged particles comprise charged drops, molecular ions, cluster ions, or mixtures of the foregoing.