An ion source able to ionize both liquid and gaseous effluents from
interfaced liquid or gaseous separation techniques. The liquid effluents
are ionized by electrospray ionization, photoionization or atmospheric
pressure chemical ionization and the gaseous effluents from sources such
as a gas chromatograph are ionized by a corona or Townsend electrical
discharge or photoionization. The source has the ability to ionize
compounds from both liquid and gaseous sources, which facilitates
ionization of volatile compounds separated by gas chromatography, low
volatility compounds separated by liquid chromatography, as well as
highly non-volatile compounds infused by electrospray or separated by
liquid chromatography or capillary electrophoresis.