HYSTORY AND FUTURE OF DOMESTIC LIGHT GAS ISOTOPIC MASS-SPECTROMETRY
The paper concerns stages of domestic mass-spectrometry progress, including development of mass-spectrometers for light gas isotopic analysis, and areas of their use are shown. Former and current instruments are compared for isotopic analysis of H-He mixes, which is the most complex task in the this area. It has been concluded that the instrument should resolve multiplets at 2-7th mass units having resolving power of about 3500 at neighbor ion current ratio 10-3; however it should not resolve isotopically- compared hydrocarbons, to make the mass-spectrometer cheaper, more compact and robust. A number of technical ideas have been put forward to optimize a specialized instrument based on a combination of electron ionization ions source and prism double focusing mass-analyzer. Promising future is shown for Russian light gas isotopic mass-spectrometers.