A dielectric barrier discharge ionization detector Includes: a dielectric tube; a high-voltage electrode connected to an AC power source and circumferentially formed on the outer wall of the dielectric tube; upstream-side and downstream-side ground electrodes and circumferentially formed above and below the high-voltage electrode; a discharging section for generating electric discharge to create plasma, from a gas containing argon; and a charge-collecting section for ionizing sample-gas components by the plasma and detecting an ion current formed by the ionized components. The detector also satisfies one or both of the following conditions: the upstream-side ground electrode is longer than a creeping discharge initiation distance between a tube-line tip member at the upper end of the dielectric tube and the high-voltage electrode; or the downstream-side ground electrode is longer than a creeping discharge initiation distance between the high-voltage electrode and the charge-collecting section.

The dielectric barrier discharge ionization detector includes: a dielectric tube through which a plasma generation gas is passed; a high-voltage electrode formed on the outer wall of the dielectric tube; two ground electrodes and formed on the outer wall of the dielectric tube, with the high-voltage electrode in between; a voltage supplier for applying AC voltage between the high-voltage electrode and each ground electrode to generate electric discharge within the dielectric tube and thereby generate plasma from the plasma generation gas; and a charge-collecting section for detecting an ion current formed by ionized sample-component gas produced by the plasma. The distance between one ground electrode and the high-voltage electrode is longer than a discharge initiation distance between these two electrodes, while the distance between the other ground electrode and the high-voltage electrode is shorter than the discharge initiation distance between these two electrodes.

A system for verifying the operation of RF generators and resulting pulse waveforms in semiconductor processes includes a process chamber, a profile sensor, an optical sensor and a controller. A process implemented by the controller of the system for verifying the operation of RF generators and resulting pulse waveforms in semiconductor processes includes generating a pulse profile of a pulse shape of an RF generator under test, selecting a stored, representative profile of an RF generator known to be operating correctly to compare to the profile generated for the RF generator for a same pulse mode, defining a quantitative metric/control limit to identify similarities and/or differences between pulses of same pulse modes between the generated profile of the RF generator and the stored profile, comparing the generated profile and the selected stored profile, and determining if the RF generator under test is operating properly based on the comparison.

An apparatus and method for measuring flux, current, or integrated charge of a beam are provided. The apparatus and method include a cup on which the beam is incident. The cup includes an inner cylinder, a coaxial cylinder, and an aperture. The coaxial cylinder surrounds the inner cylinder and is electrically insulated therefrom. An offset current source is in electrical communication with the inner cylinder. An electrometer, a charge integrator, or a counter may be electrically connected to the cup and the offset current source. When the beam is incident on the cup and aligned with the aperture, the electrometer can measure the beam current and the charge integrator can measure the integrated charge of the beam.

An apparatus and method for measuring flux, current, or integrated charge of a beam are provided. The apparatus and method include a cup on which the beam is incident. The cup includes an inner cylinder, a coaxial cylinder, and an aperture. The coaxial cylinder surrounds the inner cylinder and is electrically insulated therefrom. An offset current source is in electrical communication with the inner cylinder. An electrometer, a charge integrator, or a counter may be electrically connected to the cup and the offset current source. When the beam is incident on the cup and aligned with the aperture, the electrometer can measure the beam current and the charge integrator can measure the integrated charge of the beam.

The present invention comprises novel methods of continuously monitoring the performance of an atmospheric pressure ionization (API) system. The methods of the invention allow for improved quality monitoring of the processes that leads to the formation of ions at atmospheric pressure. The methods of the invention further allow for continuously monitoring for the quality of the ion formation process in API without the addition of extraneous material (such as labelled compounds or control known compounds) to the system being monitored.

An amplification device including: a switch including an output that is suitable for being connected to a first or a second input; a first branch that is connected to the first input, which applies a first gain to generate a first amplified signal; a second branch that is connected to the second input, which applies a second gain to generate a second amplified signal; a controller for controlling the switching of the switch to apply the first or the second amplified signal to the output, depending on whether or not the value of a predetermined quantity of the first amplified signal falls within a predetermined range. The first gain and the second gain being non-zero real numbers of opposite sign.

A current sample-and-hold circuit and a sensor, are provided. The current sample-and-hold circuit is used for offsetting a background photocurrent of a photodiode, and includes a capacitor and a first transconductance amplifier which has adjustable transconductance and outputs a sampled current to the photodiode to offset the background photocurrent of the photodiode. One end of the capacitor is connected with a power supply, the other end of the capacitor is connected with one end of the first transconductance amplifier; and the other end of the first transconductance amplifier is connected with the photodiode to output the sampled current to the photodiode. When the background photocurrent of the photodiode is increased, a change of a voltage of the capacitor within a large range can be avoided by increasing the transconductance of the first transconductance amplifier, so that the current sample-and-hold circuit can offset a larger background photocurrent.

Embodiments of systems, devices, and methods relating to a beam system. An example method of detecting beam misalignment a beam system includes detecting beam misalignment in an injector system of the beam system. The example method further includes detecting beam misalignment in an accelerator system of the beam system.

The present invention provides a self-adaptive current monitoring circuit, configured to monitor a current generated by an optical sensing element, including a voltage dividing unit coupled with the optical sensing element for generating a corresponding divided voltage signal according to a current signal of the optical sensing element; a comparison unit coupled with the voltage dividing unit for receiving and generating a monitoring signal according to the divided voltage signal; a threshold unit coupled with the comparison unit for receiving the monitoring signal and comparing the monitoring signal with a threshold signal to output a switch control signal; and a voltage regulation unit coupled with the threshold unit and the voltage dividing unit for receiving and generating a voltage regulation signal according to the switch control signal, and the voltage dividing unit receives and outputs an increased or decreased divided voltage signal according to the voltage regulation signal.