Switchable branched ion guide
AssigneeThermo Finnigan LLC
InventorAlan E. Schoen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A switchable branched ion guide is disclosed. The switchable branched ion guide includes a trunk section, first and second branch sections, a junction connecting the trunk section to the branch sections, and a movable valve member located at the junction. The valve member may be moved between a first position in which ion travel is permitted between the trunk section and first branch section and is inhibited between the trunk section and the second branch section, and a second position in which ion travel is permitted between the trunk section and the second branch section and is inhibited between the trunk section and the first branch section. The branched ion guide may be utilized, for example, to controllably switch an ion stream between two destinations such as mass analyzers.
Claims22
A switchable branched ion guide, comprising:
- a trunk section, a first branch section, a second branch section, and a junction connecting the trunk section with the first and second branch sections, each of the trunk section and the first and second branch sections including at least two electrode pairs to which opposite phases of a radio frequency voltage are applied;
- and
- a valve member positioned at the junction, the valve member being movable between a first position that allows ion travel between interior volumes of the trunk and first branch sections and impedes ion travel between interior volumes of the trunk and second branch sections, and a second position that allows ion travel between interior volumes of the trunk and second branch sections and impedes ion travel between interior volumes of the trunk and first branch sections.
A mass spectrometer system, comprising:
- an ion source;
- a switchable branched ion guide having a trunk section configured to receive ions from the ion source, the ion guide further comprising a first branch section, a second branch section, and a junction connecting the trunk section with the first and second branch sections, each of the trunk section and the first and second branch sections including at least two electrode pairs to which opposite phases of a radio frequency voltage are applied;
- a valve member positioned at the junction, the valve member being movable between a first position that allows ion travel from the interior volume of the trunk section to the interior volume of the first branch sections and impedes ion travel from the interior volume of the trunk section to the interior volume of the second branch section, and a second position that allows ion travel from the interior volume of the trunk section to the interior volume of the second branch section and impedes ion travel from the interior volume of the trunk section to the interior volume of the first branch section;
- and
- first and second mass analyzers configured to respectively receive ions from the first and second branch sections.
A mass spectrometer system, comprising:
- first and second ion sources;
- a switchable branched ion guide having first and second branch sections respectively configured to receive ions from the first and second ion sources, the ion guide further comprising a trunk section and a junction connecting the trunk section with the first and second branch sections, each of the trunk section and the first and second branch sections including at least two electrode pairs to which opposite phases of a radio frequency voltage are applied;
- a valve member positioned at the junction, the valve member being movable between a first position that allows ion travel from the interior volume of the first branch section to the interior volume of the trunk section and impedes ion travel from the interior volume of the second branch section to the interior volume of the trunk section, and a second position that allows ion travel from the interior volume of the second branch section to the interior volume of the trunk section and impedes ion travel from the interior volume of the first branch section to the interior volume of the trunk section;
- and
- a mass analyzer configured to receive ions from the trunk section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.