Development of thermal flash heating/rapid cooling system using a heated needle coupled with an alternating current (AC) corona discharge ion source

In previous work, a flash desorption/rapid cooling system for the analysis of non-volatile samples was developed using a heated needle.The needle was moved down to the sample surface by using a linear actuator.In this system, it was necessary to adjust the lowest position of the needle manually.In the present work, a flash heating system with no need of manual adjustment was implemented and combined with an alternating current (AC) corona discharge ion source.By using a movable needle inserted in a heated ceramic tube, the needle stops and remains on the sample surface at the moment when the needle tip touches it, thereby preventing deep penetration.After contact in 200 ms, the needle was lifted up enabling rapid cooling of the heated sample.Namely, the movable needle in a ceramic tube acts as a soft touch sensor.This system coupled with an AC corona discharge ion source was successfully applied to the analysis of industrial polymers.