Synchronized ion modification
AssigneeSmiths Detection-Watford Limited
InventorsStephen J. Taylor, Jonathan R. Atkinson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Synchronized ion modification systems and techniques are described. An ion modifier can be used to modify a portion of ions that enter a drift chamber via a gate that controls entry of the ions to the drift chamber. A controller that is communicatively coupled to the ion modifier is configured to control the ion modifier to select a portion of the ion to be modified. In embodiments, the controller selects the portion based on a detector's previous response to other ions that are formed from a sample from which the ions were formed. The other ions, for example, correspond to ions that are associated with a peak in previous operation of a spectrometer.
Claims20
A spectrometer comprising:
- an ion modifier, a drift chamber, and a detector, the ion modifier being configured to modify a portion of the ions that enter the drift chamber;
- and
- a controller, communicatively coupled to the ion modifier and the detector and configured to control operation of the spectrometer to:
- separate ions in the drift chamber based on, respectively, a given ions' ion mobility;
- fragment a portion of the ions that arrive at the ion modifier in a first time period, the ions in the portion having substantially similar ion mobilities;
- separate fragments that are ionized, respectively, based on the fragment's ion mobility;
- and
- select a group of other ions according to time of arrival at the ion modifier, the time of arrival being in a second time period, and preventing the group of other ions from passing toward the detector by neutralizing the group of other ions.
A method comprising:
- separating ions in a drift chamber based on, respectively, a given ion's ion mobility;
- fragmenting a portion of the ions, the ions in the portion having substantially similar ion mobilities;
- separating fragments that are ionized, respectively, based on the fragment's ion mobility;
- and
- selecting a group of other ions based on their time of flight, and preventing the group of other ions from passing toward a detector by neutralising the group of other ions.
A tangible non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions, that responsive to being executed by a computing system of a spectrometer, control the spectrometer to:
- separate ions in the drift chamber based on, respectively, a given ion's ion mobility;
- fragment a portion of the ions, the ions in the portion having substantially similar ion mobilities;
- separate fragments that are ionized, respectively, based on a given fragment's ion mobility;
- select a group of other ions based on their time of flight;
- and
- prevent the group of other ions from passing toward the detector by neutralizing the group of other ions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.