A Three-Dimensional Velocity-Map Imaging Setup Designed for Crossed Ion-Molecule Scattering Studies

In this study, we report the design and simulation of an electrostatic ion lens system consisting of 22 round metal plates. The opening of the extractor plate is covered with metal mesh, which is for shielding the interaction region of the lens system from the high DC voltages applied to all other plates than the repeller and extractor plates. The Simion simulation shows that both velocity-mapping and time focusing can be achieved simultaneously when appropriate voltages are applied to each of the plates. This makes the ion lens system be able to focus large ionic volumes in all three dimensions, which is an essential requirement for crossed ion-molecule scattering studies. A three-dimensional ion velocity measurement system with multi-hit and potential multi-mass capability is built, which consists of a microchannel plate (MCP), a P47 phosphor screen, a CMOS camera, a fast photomultiplier tube (PMT), and a high-speed digitizer. The two velocity components perpendicular to the flight axis are measured by the CMOS camera, and the time-of-flight, from which the velocity component along the flight axis can be deduced, is measured by the PMT. A Labview program is written to combine the two measurements for building the full three-dimensional ion velocity in real time on a frame-by-frame basis. The multi-hit capability comes from the fact that multiple ions from the camera and PMT in the same frame can be correlated with each other based on their various intensities. We demonstrate this by using the photodissociation of CH₃I at 304 nm.