Ionchip is a mass spectrometer chip. Mass
spectrometry is a powerful scientific technique used to analyse the structure and chemical composition of compounds.

Only very minute quantities are required to successfully detect compounds. This means that substances can be identified at very low concentrations in chemically complex mixtures.

Ionchip is based on a type of mass spectrometer called a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS). In 1953 Wolfgang Paul and his colleagues developed a mass spectrometer that required no magnetic field. Paul was eventually awarded Nobel Prize in physics.

Research led by Professor Richard Syms at the Optical and Semiconductor Devices Group took the original concept of the
QMS and miniaturised it using MEMS technology produce the world’s first QMS chip. Several generations of this chip were demonstrated, culminating in the development of Ionchip technology by Microsaic from 2001.

Ionchip advantages:
• Compact mass spectrometer system
• Low manufacturing cost - batch fabrication on silicon wafer
• Identification of compounds is based on an industry standard
- ‘fingerprint’ library
• Excellent dynamic range
• High mass range
• Superior resolution

Ionchip Operation [click for animated walk-through]

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