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US 2022/0093384 A1Published application
Multi-pass mass spectrometer
AssigneeMicromass UK Limited
InventorAnatoly Verenchikov
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AssigneeMicromass UK Limited
InventorAnatoly Verenchikov
Estimating the term…
Improved multi-pass time-of-flight mass spectrometers MPTOF, either multi-reflecting (MR) or multi-turn (MT) TOF are proposed with elongated pulsed converters—either orthogonal accelerator or radially ejecting ion trap. The converter 35 is displaced from the MPTOF s-surface of isochronous ion motion in the orthogonal Y-direction. Long ion packets 38 are pulsed deflected in the transverse Y-direction and brought onto said isochronous trajectory s-surface, this way bypassing said converter. Ion packets are isochronously focused in the drift Z-direction within or immediately after the accelerator, either by isochronous trans-axial lens/wedge 68 or Fresnel lens. The accelerator is improved by the ion beam confinement within an RF quadrupolar field or within spatially alternated DC quadrupolar field. The accelerator improves the duty cycle and/or space charge capacity of MPTOF by an order of magnitude.
A time-of-flight mass analyser comprising:
The mass analyser of any preceding claim, comprising focusing electrodes that are spaced apart from each other in the first dimension by a gap, wherein the gap is elongated in the second dimension and the longitudinal axis of the gap curves in a plane defined by the first and second dimensions (X-Z plane).
The mass analyser of any preceding claim, wherein the focusing electrodes comprise a plurality of ion deflectors arranged such that different portions of an ion packet pass through different ones of the ion deflectors, and wherein the ion deflectors are configured to deflect the mean trajectories of the different portions of the ion packet by different amounts so as to focus the ion packet in the second dimension.
The mass analyser of any preceding claim, wherein the focusing electrodes comprise a plurality of electrodes configured to control the velocities of the ions such that ions within the ion accelerator have velocities, in the second dimension, that decrease as a function of distance in the second dimension towards the detector.
The mass analyser of any preceding claim, wherein the plurality of electrodes comprise electrodes arranged within the ion accelerator to generate an axial potential distribution along the second dimension that slows ions by different amounts depending on their location, in the second dimension, within the ion accelerator.
The mass analyser of any preceding claim, wherein the ion accelerator comprises an ion guide portion having electrodes arranged to receive ions, and one or more voltage supplies configured to apply potentials to these electrodes for confining ions in at least one dimension (X- or Y-dimension) orthogonal to the second dimension.
The mass analyser of any preceding claim, wherein the ion accelerator comprises:
The mass analyser of any preceding claim, wherein:
The mass analyser of any preceding claim, wherein the length of the ion accelerator from which ions are pulsed (LZ) is longer, in the second dimension, than half of the distance (AZ) that the ion packet advances for each mirror reflection or sector turn.
The mass analyser of any preceding claim, wherein the length of the ion accelerator from which ions are pulsed (LZ) is longer, in the second dimension, than x % of the distance in the second dimension between the entrance to the ion accelerator and the midpoint of the detector, wherein X is:
A method of mass spectrometry comprising:
A time-of-flight mass spectrometer comprising:
A method of time-of-flight mass spectrometry comprising the following steps:
A multi-pass MPTOF (multi-reflecting or multi-turn) time-of-flight mass spectrometer comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.