Control of ions
AssigneeFasmatech Science & Technology Ltd.
InventorDimitris Papanastasiou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A mass spectrometer for analyzing fragment ions includes an ion source, an ion mobility spectrometer, and a system of electrodes. The ion source is configured to produce fragment ions. The ion mobility spectrometer is configured to receive fragment ions produced by the ion source and to separate at least a fraction of the received fragment ions according to their ion mobility into mobility-separated fragment ions. The system of electrodes is configured to receive DC electrical potentials to transfer at least a fraction of the mobility-separated fragment ions to a mass analyzer for generating a mass-to-charge (m/z) spectrum exhibiting reduced spectral complexity.
Claims17
A mass spectrometer for analyzing fragment ions, the mass spectrometer comprising:
- a mass analyzer for generating a mass spectrum of fragment ions;
- an ion source for producing fragment ions;
- an ion mobility spectrometer for receiving fragment ions produced by the ion source and for separating at least a fraction of the received fragment ions according to their ion mobility into mobility-separated fragment ions;
- and
- a system of electrodes associated with the ion source and the ion mobility spectrometer and configured to receive DC electrical potentials to transfer at least a fraction of the mobility-separated fragment ions to the mass analyzer for generating a mass-to-charge (m/z) spectrum exhibiting reduced spectral complexity.
A method for separating fragment ions in a mass spectrometer incorporating an ion mobility spectrometer, a system of electrodes, and a mass analyzer, the method comprising:
- receiving a population of fragment ions;
- separating, by the ion mobility spectrometer, the received population of fragment ions according to their ion mobility into mobility-separated fragment ions;
- and
- applying to the system of electrodes DC electrical potentials to transfer at least a fraction of the mobility-separated fragment ions to the mass analyzer for generating a mass-to-charge (m/z) spectrum exhibiting reduced spectral complexity to facilitate spectral interpretation.
A method comprising:
- generating a population of fragment ions in an ion trap;
- injecting the generated population of fragment ions into a pressurized ion mobility drift cell and separating the injected population of fragment ions inside the pressurized ion mobility drift cell;
- trapping at least a fraction of the separated population of fragment ions;
- and
- transferring the at least a fraction of trapped fragment ions towards a mass analyzer to produce at least one m/z spectrum containing reduced information compared to a m/z spectrum that includes the population of fragment ions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.