Spectrometer provided with pulsed ion source and transmission device to damp ion motion and method of use

A mass spectrometer system comprising:

• a pulsed ion source for providing a plurality of plumes, each plume having a plurality of analyte ions,
• an ion transmission device disposed along an ion path and having an ion transmission device containing a damping gas and having at least one RF ion guide disposed on an ion path, the damping gas providing collision damping on the analyte ions and the RF ion guide providing ion confinement along the ion path, such that each plume is spread into a significantly broadened and continuous packet of ions along the ion path;
• and
• a time-of-flight mass spectrometer disposed on the ion path for analyzing the packets of ions, the time-of-flight mass spectrometer having a detection axis disposed perpendicular to the ion path and having electrodes pulsed multiple times for each packet of ions to inject ions from said each packet into a detection region.

A method of generating ions and preparing ions for mass spectrometry analysis, comprising the steps of:

• activating an ion source to produce a plurality of plumes, each plume having a plurality of analyte ions;
• providing an ion transmission device having a damping gas and at least one RF ion guide along an ion path;
• applying collision damping by the damping gas on the analyte ions and ion confinement along the ion path by the RF ion guide, such that each plume is spread into a significantly broadened and continuous packet of ions along the ion path;
• and
• transmitting the packets of ions along the ion path toward a mass spectrometer for analysis.