Measurement method in which a mass spectrometer is used to measure the ratio of mass to charge and the abundance of ionized entities emitted from a sample in air as a result of a nearby corona discharge in a humid carrier gas.
Notes: - The carrier gas is usually nitrogen.
- Both positive and negative ions are observed with the mechanisms involving protonation through water molecules and ionization through the Penning process.
See also: plasma assisted desorption ionization, direct analysis in real time
Source:
PAC, 2020, 92, 1781. 'Glossary of methods and terms used in surface chemical analysis (IUPAC Recommendations 2020)' on page 1785 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2019-0404)