Spectroscopy instrument using broadband modulation and statistical estimation techniques to account for component artifacts

An instrument for analyzing particles comprising:

• a source for a modulated particle beam, wherein the particles are charged, and the modulated particle beam containing a stream of particles modulated according to a modulation sequence having substantially broadband frequency content;
• a propagation path for carrying the modulated particle beam, the propagation path for separating particles according to different particle properties;
• a detector for detecting attributes of the particle beam and generating a data output signal in response thereto;
• and
• a processor for recovering information concerning the particle beam from the data output signal using a probability based estimation method which obtains a corrected data output signal given a model of how the data output signal was affected by components of the instrument.

An instrument for analyzing particles comprising:

• a source for a modulated particle beam, the modulated particle beam containing a stream of particles modulated according to a modulation sequence having substantially broadband frequency content;
• a propagation path for carrying the modulated particle beam, the propagation path for separating particles according to different particle properties;
• a detector for detecting attributes of the particle beam and generating a data output signal in response thereto;
• and
• a processor for recovering information concerning the particle beam from the data output signal using a probability based estimation method which obtains a corrected data output signal given a model of how the data output signal was affected by components of the instrument, wherein the particle beam modulator is applied after the particle beam is exposed to a sample.

An instrument for analyzing particles comprising:

• a source for a modulated particle beam, the modulated particle beam containing a stream of particles modulated according to a modulation sequence having substantially broadband frequency content;
• a propagation path for carrying the modulated particle beam, the propagation path for separating particles according to different particle properties;
• a detector for detecting attributes of the particle beam and generating a data output signal in response thereto;
• and
• a processor for recovering information concerning the particle beam from the data output signal using a probability based estimation method which obtains a corrected data output signal given a model of how the data output signal was affected by components of the instrument, where statistical estimation techniques are used to obtain a sampled continuous actual response function of the instrument.

An instrument for analyzing particles comprising:

• a particle beam source providing a continuous beam of particles, the beam having substantially constant flux;
• a modulator for modulating the particle beam by passing it substantially unaltered during on periods, and affecting the beam during off periods according to a binary sequence having substantially broadband frequency content;
• a propagation path for carrying the modulated particle beam, the propagation path for separating particles according to different particle properties;
• a detector for detecting attributes of the particle beam and generating a measured data output signal in response thereto;
• and
• a processor for recovering information concerning the particle beam from the measured data output signal using an iterative probability based estimation method, the probability based estimation method
• i. compensating for non-ideal characteristics of the components of the system by using a system response function, p, that represents a response of the particle beam to a broadband binary modulation sequence;
• and
• ii. allowing higher resolution to be obtained than a nominal time unit corresponding to a clock period of the modulator would provide without the broadband binary modulation sequence, depending upon at least one of the signal to noise ratio, the oversampling of the time base, and the rise time of the response function.