Method and device for orthogonal ion injection into a time-of-flight mass spectrometer

Abstract

The invention relates to methods and devices for the orthogonal injection of ions into a time-of-flight mass spectrometer, whereby the ions preferably originate from ion sources which are located outside of the vacuum system of the mass spectrometer. The invention consists of first introducing the ions into a multipole rod arrangement with extended pole rods which stretches orthogonally to the flight direction of the ions in the time-of-flight spectrometer, and then outpulsing the ions by means of a rapid change of the electrical field, perpendicular to the rod direction, through the intermediate space between two rods. The multipole arrangement can take the form of an ion storage device by fitting reflectors to the ends. The multipole arrangement can be filled with the aid of another multipole arrangement which takes the form of an ion guide. Damping of the ion oscillations with the aid of a collision gas leads to a collection of ions in a very thin thread on the axis of the multipole arrangement, providing the time-of-flight spectrometer with an excellent mass resolving power due to the uniform initial energy and low energy spread of the ions.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.