The quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) is used to detect and measure the abundance of gas phase ions. These ions have to pass between electrically connected rods in order to reach the detector. By combining alternating and direct voltage on these rods, it is possible to ensure that only ions with specific mass-to-charge ratio are capable of reaching the detector.
The thermocouple gauge is a device used to measure low vacuum. A filament is heated up by passing a current through it. When gas molecules interact with the filament, heat is carried away. Therefore higher pressure in the chamber means that more heat is taken away. The temperature of the filament can be measured with a thermocouple where the generated voltage depends on the temperature. Therefore in this system the voltage of the thermocouple is measured and converted into pressure units like millibars or pascals.
The diffusion pump is an oil-based vacuum pump, that is used for obtaining different levels of vacuum – even high vacuum of 10 powered -9 Pascal. In this system the oil is boiled by a heating with a heater. Next, the jets of vaporized oil grab the gas molecules in the chamber and transport them to the colder chambers walls where oil condensates and moves down. At this stage the captured gas molecules are released and removed from the system with a pre-vacuum pump. The #diffusionpump has very high pumping speeds and it can even be used for the pumping of corrosive gases. The downside however, is the possibility of contaminating the vacuum system with oil and therefore oil traps are highly recommended.