摘要 |
A method of improving the signal to noise ratio of an ion beam, utilizing a tandem mass spectrometer comprising two mass filters separated by a collision cell. The first mass filter is operated in a resolving mode such that only a narrow mass-to-charge range of precursor ions are stable and accelerated towards the collision cell which contains neutral gas to promote collisional activation and subsequent fragmentation of unwanted fragile ions while minimizing fragmentation of desired analyte ions. The second mass filter is scanned synchronously with the first mass filter such that only ions that do not fragment are recorded by the ion detector. Thus, analyte ions that have fragmentation values higher than unwanted background ions are preferentially detected thereby increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the ion beam.
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