Mass spectrometer with tandem ion mobility analyzers
OwnerThomas Betz, Melvin Andrew Park +1inventors
InventorsThomas Betz, Melvin Andrew Park, Mark Ridgeway
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Abstract
The invention proposes a mass spectrometer comprising two ion mobility analyzers in tandem arrangement, of which at least one is a trapped ion mobility spectrometer (TIMS), and an ion gate which is located between the two ion mobility analyzers, and use thereof wherein ions are selectively transferred between the two ion mobility analyzers by adjusting the transmission of the ion gate while ions are separated in time according to ion mobility in the first ion mobility analyzer.
Claims13
A method for analyzing ions in a mass spectrometer comprising an ion source, first and second trapped ion mobility spectrometry (TIMS) analyzers, an ion gate located between the first and second TIMS and a mass analyzer, the method comprising the steps of:
- transferring ions from the ion source to the first TIMS analyzer;
- driving the ions transferred to the first TIMS analyzer by a first gas flow against a first counter-acting electric DC field barrier such that the ions are trapped and spatially separated according to their mobilities at different positions along a ramp of the first electric DC field barrier at which a friction force of the first gas flow equals the counter-acting force of the first electric DC field barrier;
- temporally separating ions according to mobility in the first TIMS analyzer by adjusting a height of the first electric DC field barrier or the velocity of the first gas flow;
- selecting at least one ion mobility species of interest by adjusting the transmission of the ion gate during the temporal ion separation in the first ion mobility analyzer;
- transferring the selected ion mobility species of interest to the second TIMS analyzer;
- driving the ions transferred to the second TIMS analyzer by a second gas flow against a second counter-acting electric DC field barrier such that the ions are trapped and spatially separated according to their mobilities at different positions along a ramp of the second electric DC field barrier at which a friction force of the second gas flow equals the counter-acting force of the second electric DC field barrier;
- and
- temporally separating ions according to mobility in the second TIMS analyzer by adjusting a height of the second electric DC field barrier or the velocity of the gas flow.
A mass spectrometer comprising an ion source, first and second trapped ion mobility spectrometry analyzers (TIMS), an ion gate located between the two ion mobility analyzers and a mass analyzer,
- wherein the first and second TIMS analyzers each comprise a gas flow and a counter-acting electric DC field barrier configured to spatially separate ions according to their mobilities at different positions along a ramp of the electric field barrier at which a friction force of the first gas flow equals the counter-acting force of the electric DC field barrier and to temporally separate ions according to mobility by adjusting a height of the electric DC field barrier or a velocity of the gas flow, and
- wherein the ion gate is configured to vary the transmission of ion mobility species of interest during operation of the first mobility analyzer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.