FIRST AND SECOND ORDER FOCUSING USING FIELD FREE REGIONS IN TIME-OF-FLIGHT

摘要

In some embodiments, a time of flight mass spectrometer can comprise an input orifice for receiving ions, a first ion accelerator stage for accelerating the ions along a first path, at least one ion reflector for receiving said accelerated ions and redirecting said ions along a second path different than the first path, a detector for detecting at least a portion of the ions redirected by said at least one ion reflector, and at least first and second field free drift regions disposed between said first acceleration stage and said detector, wherein said second field free region is disposed in proximity of the detector. In some embodiments, the lengths of the field free drift regions can be selected so as to provide 1st and 2nd order corrections of the time of flight of the ions with respect to variation in their initial positions.

主权项

1. A time of flight mass spectrometer, comprising:
an input orifice for receiving ions, a first ion acceleration stage for accelerating the ions along a first path, a first ion reflector for receiving said accelerated ions and redirecting said ions along a second path different than the first path, a second ion reflector configured to redirect the ions propagating along the second path onto a third path, a detector for detecting at least a portion of the ions redirected by said second ion reflector, at least first and second field free drift regions disposed between said first acceleration stage and said detector, wherein said second field free region is disposed in proximity of the detector, and a second acceleration stage disposed between said first and second field free drift regions.