Kore Technology News

December 2011: Inverted in-line Time-of-flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer.
October 2011: Affordable rack-mounted High mass resolution and sensitivity PTR-TOF-MS.
October 2011: High mass resolution TOF-MS for process gas analysis.
September 2011: Real-time breath analysis installed at Leicester hospital.
December 2010: SurfaceSeer TOF-SIMS
January 2010: New 4GHz time-to-digital converter (TDC) product
October 2009: SurfaceSeer TOF-SIMS
October 2009: A PTR-TOF-MS instrument for real-time high sensitivity breath analysis
September 2009: R-500 TOF-SIMS for custom build SIMS
August 2009: Indian Atomic Energy Research Centre takes delivery of Kore custom TOF-SIMS
July 2009: Mini TOF-MS for molecular beam characterisation
June 2009: A PTR-TOF-MS for real-time monitoring of a photolysis cell/FAGE cell combination
June 2009: Refurbishing older surface analysis instruments
December 2008: Kore delivers Add-on TOF-MS for gas kinetics studies
December 2008: Kore delivers fast and sensitive gas analyser
October 2008: Discounts on Aptech LaB₆/CeBix™ e-beam cathode rebuilds
April 2008: Kore delivers Glow Discharge TOF-MS
Older News

December 2011: Inverted in-line Time-of-flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer.

We are pleased to be delivering an Inverted Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer based upon our SurfaceSeer TOF-SIMS to the University of Kaliningrad in Russia.

The Kore TOF-SIMS will be connected via sample transfer systems, supplied by Cryosystems inc., to the customer's Pulsed Laser Deposition system, Atomic layer Deposition system and Atomic Force Microscope.

The "open-architecture" design of the SurfaceSeer allowed the Kore TOF-SIMS to be inverted with the TOFMS below the sample. Inverting the TOF-SIMS means the sample can be in the same orientation - that is up-side down - as required for the deposition systems. This allows a sample to be readily transferred under vacuum between all the instruments. Ensuring that sample preparation and analysis can all be completed under vacuum.

October 2011: Affordable rack-mounted High mass resolution and sensitivity PTR-TOF-MS.

Kore has now finished a series of new design and R&D developments that has resulted in greatly improved sensitivity and mass resolution for chemical speciation and also transportability for 'field campaigns' in our PTR-TOF-MS instruments. We are now building these rack-mounted instruments for delivery to two French Institutes for continuation of their research programmes in atmospheric chemistry.

The base price of these instruments is ~£150k (~€176k) and so we continue with our tradition of delivering high performance instruments that are affordable for today's restricted budgets. We keep our prices down by manufacturing in-house all the key components of our TOF-MS instruments including the Time-of-flight mass spectrometer and time-to-digital converter electronics.

October 2011: High mass resolution TOF-MS for process gas analysis.

We are pleased to be delivering a high mass resolution (>5000 M/δM FWHM) TOF-MS instrument for analytical analysis of process gases to Steve Wright of CSIRO Process Science and Engineering Laboratories in Australia.

The main role of the mass spectrometer is to analyse the components in gases from furnaces in which combustion or pyrolysis reactions are occurring as part of CSIRO´s high temperature processing program. This requires a mass spectrometer that can quantitatively analyse process gases as well as identify and analyse volatile organic compounds(VOCs) that originate from the pyrolysis of biomass. Thus Kore provided a dual inlet system to the TOF-MS comprising a heated capillary inlet system for the process gases and a permeable membrane concentrator inlet assembly for the VOCs.

High mass resolution was required to resolve process gases such as CO, CO₂, N₂, H₂S and N₂O as distinct peaks in the presence of other combustion gases.

The rack-mounted instrument is designed for easy and safe transportation between different sites. It is housed in a purpose- designed vertical rack to permit easy transportation in a standard van. The instrument is floated inside the frame so that it is cushioned during transportation.

September 2011: Kore's high sensitivity PTR-TOF-MS instrument for real-time high sensitivity breath analysis installed at Leicester hospital.

We are pleased to announce that the Kore high sensitivity PTR- TOF-MS instrument delivered to Professor Paul Monks of the Atmospheric Chemistry Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Leicester has been installed in a futuristic sick bay - the only one of its kind in the world - at Leicester Royal Infirmary's accident and emergency department and will be used from next month.

The Kore high sensitivity PTR-TOF-MS is one of the instruments in this non- invasive disease detection facility, developed by Leicester University. The disease detection facility is designed to detect the "sight, smell and feel" of disease without the use of invasive probes, blood tests, or other time- consuming and uncomfortable procedures. Professor Tim Coates describes the concept in the short video below:

December 2010: SurfaceSeer TOF-SIMS

During 2010 we received an order for a SurfaceSeer TOF-SIMS from the Experimental Techniques Centre at Brunel University in the UK. ETCbrunel is a highly regarded consultancy and research Centre for engineering, forensic and environmental investigations. ETCbrunel wanted to acquire a new Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (SIMS) to enable surface chemical imaging of materials across disciplines, including engineering, forensics and biosciences. The customer, Dr. Robert Bulpett, at ETCbrunel, wanted to achieve the high spatial and mass resolution obtainable by substituting a pulsed Liquid Metal Ion Gun (LMIG) for the Gas gun usually used in the SurfaceSeer. However like most research institutes nowadays his budget was limited. Even though the SurfaceSeer is substantially cheaper than available top-of-the-range surface chemical imaging TOF-SIMS systems, adding a new LMIG would substantially increase the total system price. So we located and installed a pulsed LMIG, which was now surplus to requirements at another university, to deliver a system that met Brunel's high performance, but limited budget requirements.

The chemical imaging SurfaceSeer, was delivered and installed at the end of 2010.

January 2010: New 4GHz time-to-digital converter (TDC) product

Kore is pleased to announce our new 4GHz time-to-digital converter (TDC) product for 2010. This timing unit with 250ps capability is the product of a three year development programme and replaces our older 2ns TDC. The new TDC will feature in all future Kore products for time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

October 2009: SurfaceSeer TOF-SIMS

We are pleased to announce an order from the University of Birmingham in the UK for our SurfaceSeer TOF-SIMS. The research group of Prof. Jon Preece in the School of Chemistry is dedicated to the interdisciplinary nature of nanoscale chemistry. The group is focused on a number of areas: nanostructuring surfaces via the integration of top-down and bottom-up methodologies, gene delivery based on polycations, nanotribology, liquid crystals and nanoscale electronics.

Kore will deliver our SurfaceSeer TOF-SIMS to permit the group to characterise the surfaces of their materials using static TOF-SIMS. The driving force behind the design of the SurfaceSeer instrument is ease-of-use and speed of data acquisition for the non-SIMS expert. The Birmingham researchers have identified TOF-SIMS as a powerful tool to elucidate the surface chemistry of their samples.

October 2009: A PTR-TOF-MS instrument for real-time high sensitivity breath analysis

We are pleased to have received an order for a compact high sensitivity PTR-TOF-MS from Professor Paul Monks of the Atmospheric Chemistry Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Leicester.

The University of Leicester wishes to deploy novel non-invasive medical diagnostic technologies for the rapid, 'real-time' and integrated evaluation of acutely ill patients, within their local hospital's Accident and Emergency department. The initial targets will be infectious diseases but it is envisaged that an extension be made to cover many critical decision points, which will facilitate the management of possible drug toxicity, myocardial infarction and other life threatening conditions. As part of this facility a gas phase breath analysis mass spectrometry system needed to be procured. The system envisaged is a proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-MS). The requirement is to make real-time (ca. 1s) high sensitivity measurements of the volatile organic compounds on breath.

September 2009: R-500 TOF-SIMS for custom build SIMS

Kore continues its long-established tradition of providing flexible tools for SIMS research. We are pleased to announce an order from Samsung Electro-Mechanics in Korea for a variation on our R-500-8 TOF-SIMS analyser and control electronics.

We are also pleased to announce the first order for our new add-on R-500-6 TOF-SIMS analyser for the Technische Universität Dresden (usually translated as Dresden University of Technology and abbreviated TU Dresden). The R-500-6 is smaller than the R-500-8 and is therefore highly suited as an add-on to existing vacuum chambers and instrumentation.

TU Dresden researchers are investigating ion-solid interactions. They have developed an electron beam ion source providing highly charged ions at 25keV and above. The source is pulsed and has a focused beam spot of around 100nm. The Kore TOF-SIMS analyser will be used to characterise the species liberated from sample surfaces by their new ion beam.

A "turn-key" high performance TOF-SIMS system now is a million dollar purchase, and so it is understandable that cost-conscious researchers with instrument build experience should seek to buy components such as the TOF-SIMS analyser and associated electronics and software from experienced manufacturers like Kore.

Kore provides support and guidance where needed but essentially the researchers build and commission the instrument themselves. This "Do It Yourself" approach leads to a cost-effective route for the researchers to obtain an instrument tailored to their particular requirements.

August 2009: Indian Atomic Energy Research Centre takes delivery of Kore custom TOF-SIMS

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay on the outskirts of Mumbai, India is one of the world's leading nuclear power research institutions. BARC was named after Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha the "father" of nuclear science research in India.

Although the prime focus at BARC is on nuclear energy research there is also extensive nanotechnology research in fields ranging from energy efficiency to medicine. The Kore TOF-SIMS will be used for the chemical characterisation of surfaces and interfaces in these diverse fields studying multi-layer coatings, polymers, bio-polymers and molecular electronics. For example multi-layer coatings of thin-films such as Titanium and Silicon-Dioxide on glass substrates can increase the reflectivity of halogen lamps thereby reducing the overall power requirements. Study of these films in the Kore TOF-SIMS ultimately can increase the energy efficiency of such lamps. Similarly biomolecules can be characterised using this technique to help pharmaceutical scientists develop medicines.

July 2009: Mini TOF-MS for molecular beam characterisation

We are pleased to have received an order from the prestigious German national metrology institute, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstelt (PTB), for a Kore Mini TOF-MS compact add-on time-of-flight mass spectrometer designed for mass analysis in gas phase experiments.

PTB are conducting experiments using 100% organic molecular beams, and will ionise these using their own focused electron beam. The Kore TOF-MS will extract and inject pulses of ions into the TOF analyser for mass analysis. The Mini TOF-MS uses a differential-pumping aperture to allow ionisation to take place at pressures of up to 10^-4mbar, while preserving high vacuum in the mass spectrometer. The system will operate in the digital pulse counting regime, and to that end Kore are also supplying a full data acquisition system with a new high performance 4GHz time-to-digital converter.

We have recently sent similar instruments to CERN in Geneva, a research institute CEILAP in Buenos Aires, and also more recently to M.I.T. in the USA.

The flexible ionisation source arrangement, as well as the ability to accommodate higher pressure conditions, makes the Kore Mini TOF-MS an ideal analyser for studying the kinetics of chemical reactions for climate and atmospheric science, as well as catalysis research and other basic research programmes.

June 2009: A PTR-TOF-MS for real-time monitoring of a photolysis cell/FAGE cell combination

We are pleased to have received an order from Dr. Christa Fittschen at the University of Lille in France for a Kore PTR-TOF-MS. Dr. Fittschen's CNRS Research Group at Lille undertakes kinetic studies of atmospheric chemistry and combustion using laser photolysis and Fluorescence Assay by Gas Expansion (FAGE). For details see their website.

Lille have built a novel mobile instrument, for the absolute quantification of major reactive species in atmospheric chemistry and combustion, based on the very sensitive and selective technique of FAGE. The Kore PTR-TOF-MS will be modified to permit the PTR-TOF-MS to be installed at the exit of the FAGE cell to measure stable reaction species. The PTR instrument can also be quickly converted back to an ambient air analyser.

June 2009: Refurbishing older surface analysis instruments

We have recently refurbished surface analysis instruments for AMTEL (Advanced Mineral Technology Laboratory) in Canada and the University of Kentucky USA. We renovated a Laser Ionisation Mass Analyser (LIMA) for AMTEL. The LIMA instrument was originally built more than 20 years ago by Cambridge Mass Spectrometry Ltd for Pilkington Glass who subsequently needed the space occupied by the LIMA for new surface analysis equipment. This instrument will be added to AMTEL's existing time-of-flight resonance ionisation mass spectrometry (TOF-RIMS) instruments, which are used for the quantitative trace analysis of precious metals in minerals.

The University of Kentucky had obtained a Kratos/CMS PRISM TOF-SIMS from Armco Steel in Cincinnati. As this was a 20 year-old instrument the electronics and PC were outdated. We have supplied our newly developed 4GHz TDC (0.25ns ) and a new data acquisition computer and software to bring a new lease of life to the instrument.

December 2008: Kore delivers Add-on TOF-MS for gas kinetics studies

In December we delivered a TOF-MS to an Argentinian research Institute for use in gas kinetics studies. The Kore Mini TOF-MS will be used for the detection and identification of radicals and reaction intermediates formed in experiments involving laser-induced gas-phase chemical reactions and laser ablation on solid samples followed by radical reactions with acceptor gases.

This compact, add-on TOF-MS is designed for mass analysis in gas-phase laser experiments and uses a differential-pumping aperture to allow ionisation to take place at pressures of up to 10^-4 mbar, while preserving high vacuum in the mass spectrometer. For initial experiments where an ionising laser is not available, an electron impact ionisation source has been fitted to ionise neutral atoms and molecules for trace gas detection. In this case the first section of the ion extraction lens is pulsed to provide the ion pulses suitable for the TOF analyser.

The flexible ionisation source arrangement, as well as the ability to analyse reactions in a controlled atmosphere, makes the Kore Mini TOF-MS an ideal analyser for studying the kinetics of chemical reactions for climate and atmospheric science, as well as catalysis research.

December 2008: Kore delivers fast and sensitive gas analyser

During 2008 we installed a Kore Fast Gas Analyser (FGA). The FGA-TOF-MS is a compact bench-top time-of-flight mass analyser providing rapid and sensitive gas analysis for production and research applications.

October 2008: Kore offers Discounts on Aptech LaB₆/CeBix™ e-beam cathode rebuilds

Kore is pleased to offer discounts on any orders placed up to the end of 2008 for Aptech LaB6/CeBix™ e-beam lithography and Auger cathode rebuilds.

April 2008: Kore delivers Glow Discharge TOF-MS

In April 2008 we delivered and installed a TOF-MS suitable for coupling to a client's glow discharge ion source. This glow discharge ion source uses a solid sample as the anode, and the plasma erodes the sample, releasing atoms characteristic of the anode surface into the plasma and thence onto the spectrometer for mass measurement. In addition, the variation in signal intensities as a function of glow discharge time can be converted into a concentration depth profile.

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18:14 27/04/2012