IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO MASS SPECTROMETRY

摘要

A mass spectrometer (1) for analysing the mass of molecules of an analyte is provided, comprising an ion trap (3) comprising a sample holder (5) which is adapted to receive a sample comprising the analyte, a first laser (7) which emits laser radiation onto the sample which detaches molecules of the analyte to form a plume of analyte molecules, a second laser (9) which emits pulses of laser radiation having a full width half maximum bandwidth of at least 20nm into the plume of analyte molecules which ionizes at least some of the analyte molecules and produces analyte ions which are trapped in the ion trap, and a detector (11) which detects a characteristic of the analyte ions, which characteristic is used to produce a measure of the mass of the analyte molecules. The first laser is used to achieve detachment of the analyte molecules and the second laser is used to achieve ionization of the analyte molecules. There is therefore a clear separation of the detachment and ionization processes.