A large-aperture, low-resolution quadrupole separator for producing deposited cluster materials

A wide-aperture, low-resolution quadrupole separator for metal clusters is described. Its performance has been evaluated by numerical calculations of the trajectories of clusters. Operating in the frequency range from 5 to 100 KHz allows one to separate clusters in the mass range from 30000 to 300000 AMU and by suitable choice of the AC and DC voltages one can obtain a resolution of 0.15. At this resolution the transmission of clusters from a source is 100% over the selected mass range. By biasing the quadrupole it has been possible to obtain a very sharp cut-off between the transmitted clusters and those outside the selected range. Trajectory calculation for clusters deposited onto a biased 2 cm diameter substrate show that it is possible to keep the deposition energy below 25 eV for 90% of the clusters when the quadrupole is itself biased