Cryogenic Collisional Cooling Cell

摘要

A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a cooling cell 4 for cooling ions so as to reduce their kinetic energy. The cooling cell 4 comprises: a chamber for receiving the ions or for generating the ions therein, wherein said chamber is formed from walls defining a substantially enclosed region; and a cooling jacket 16 surrounding said chamber, wherein said cooling jacket 16 is arranged and configured to contain a cooling fluid and so as to remove heat from one or more walls of the chamber. The mass spectrometer further comprises a mass analyser 6 for receiving ions from the cooling cell 4 after they have been cooled. The present invention reduced the kinetic energy of the ions prior to mass analysis and hence improves the resolution of the mass analyser 6. The mass analyser is preferably a time of flight mass analyser.

主权项

1. A mass spectrometer comprising:
a cooling cell for cooling ions so as to reduce their kinetic energy, the cooling cell comprising: a chamber for receiving said ions or for generating said ions therein, said chamber being formed from chamber walls defining a substantially enclosed region; and a cooling jacket surrounding said chamber, wherein said cooling jacket is arranged and configured to contain a cooling fluid and so as to remove heat from one or more of the chamber walls; wherein the mass spectrometer further comprises a mass analyser for receiving said ions from the cooling cell after they have been cooled; and wherein the mass analyser is arranged and the mass spectrometer is configured such that ions cooled by the cooling cell are received at the mass analyser and mass analysed whilst still cooled relative to their kinetic energies prior to the ions entering the cooling cell so that the range of velocities of the ions is reduced relative to the range of velocities of the ions prior to entering the cooling cell.