Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with ion trapping

An inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) system, comprising:

• an ion source configured to receive successive single samples, generate plasma, and produce respective ion pulses in the plasma from the successive single samples;
• an ion trap;
• an ion detector;
• and
• a controller comprising an electronic processor and a memory, and configured to control an operation comprising:
• producing the respective ion pulses in the ion source, wherein at least one of the respective ion pulses comprises a plurality of ions having two or more different masses;
• injecting the at least one ion pulse into the ion trap;
• after the injecting, confining the ions of the injected ion pulse in the ion trap during a confinement period, during which the confining prevents the confined ions from exiting the ion trap and prevents other ions outside of the ion trap from entering the ion trap;
• after the confinement period, ejecting ions of selected masses of the confined ions mass-successively from the ion trap by mass-selective ejection;
• and
• transmitting the ejected ions mass-successively to the ion detector for measurement.