Patent ID: 8642946

Claim:
A multi-stage capillary tube assembly for supporting fluid communication between an ionization chamber of an ionization source and a low-pressure chamber of a mass spectrometer system, the multi-stage capillary tube assembly comprising: N capillary tubes disposed in a consecutive fashion one relative to another and extending between the ionization chamber and the low-pressure chamber of the mass spectrometer system, each of the N capillary tubes having an inlet end and an outlet end and an axial channel extending therebetween, wherein N>1; and, N−1 distinct intermediate pressure chambers, each distinct intermediate pressure chamber enclosing the outlet end of one of the N capillary tubes and the inlet end of an adjacent one of the N capillary tubes, wherein the diameter of the axial channel of one of the N capillary tubes is different than the diameter of the axial channel of an adjacent one of the N capillary tubes and wherein the inlet end of the one of the N capillary tubes is supported in an overlapping relationship within the outlet end of the adjacent one of the N capillary tubes.