A tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometer: combination of a multi-turn time-of-flight and a quadratic-field mirror

In pursuit of resolution in time-of-flight mass spectrometry: A historical perspective

Time-of-flight mass spectrometry is reviewed from its inception in the 1940s to the present day. The review is concerned with fundamentals of time-of-flight analyzers and of ion sources to the extent that sources influence analyzers. The patent literature has been covered, and efforts made to bring to light less well-known papers and studies © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev. 35:738-757, 2016.

Unveiling the intricacies of the curved-field ion mirror

In time-of-flight (ToF) mass spectrometry, non-linear ion mirrors, i.e. mirrors that produce a non-linear potential in which the ions fly, can focus ions exhibiting a very broad kinetic energy distribution. Besides the quadratic potential, the so-called curved field has been used in mirrors as a non-linear potential over the past 20 years. The curved field has, however, only been loosely defined. The focusing properties of the curved field appear to have never been mathematically investigated and explained. In this work, we put forward a rigid definition of the curved field and investigate the properties of it in terms of focusing and transmission. This rigid definition shows the curved field as a two-parameter function for a given mirror length and maximum potential, which can be optimized in terms of ToF distribution/resolution. Such an optimization was performed in one- dimension (1D) by solving the ToF integral equation numerically. The characteristics of optimized configurations arrived at through a comparison with mirrors with polynomial distance-potential relationships are assessed. These optimised solutions cannot be approximated in 1D by a common set of polynomial terms. There are optimised configurations affording ideal energy focussing, but on closer inspection, these potential distributions are found to be, in fact, quadratic potentials. There are other optimised solutions that afford good energy focussing in cases of there being significant field-free regions between the source/detector and the entrance to the mirror. Some of these configurations are approximated by a linear plus a quadratic term, others need higher-order terms to be approximated. To facilitate 3D investigation, the optimised solutions in 1D were used to set the initial voltages on electrodes in a rotationally symmetric mirror, which was modelled with the computer package SIMION 8.0. The SIMION ion-flight simulations revealed that the other optimised solutions with higher-order terms have the disadvantage of lowering the transmittance. That is to say, in 3D the configurations of the curved field, which give good resolution and transmittance with field- free regions between source/detector and mirror, can all be approximated by a potential consisting of a linear plus a quadratic term.

Letter: Compact analyzer for a laser time-of-flight mass spectrometer

Aspects of a new type of laser time-of-flight mass spectrometer are described in this letter. It is based on a wedge-shaped reflecting mirror and is used as an ion analyzer. The analyzer provides time focusing by both energy and a divergence angle of ions. Time focusing of good quality is acquired in the energy range of ±20% of the average ion energy, which is, at least, two times wider than the energy range of the known ion optical systems for similar applications. The mass resolution of the analyzer is ~600, while overall dimensions are very small (10 × 10 × 5 cm).

Development of multi-turn time-of-flight mass spectrometers and their applications

The mass resolution of a time-of-flight (ToF) mass spectrometer is directly proportional to its total flight path length. We have developed multi-turn ToF mass spectrometers, where ions are stored in a fixed orbit within electrostatic sectors and allowed to propagate the said orbit numerous times. With each successive orbit, the flight path is correspondingly increasing. The first multi-turn ToF mass spectrometer, the MULTUM Linear plus, was developed for cometary exploration. The spectrometer consists of four cylindrical electrostatic sectors and 28 electrostatic quadrupole lenses. The size of the analyzer is 40 cm square. Mass resolution is demonstrated to increase according to the number of ion cycles. A mass resolution of greater than 350,000 was achieved after 501.5 cycles. Another multi-turn ToF mass spectrometer, the MULTUM II, which consists of only four toroidal electrostatic sectors, was also developed in an effort to reduce the number of quadrupole lenses. We are developing various types of mass spectrometer based on the MULTUM II technology, a ToF/ToF mass spectrometer "MULTUM- TOF/TOF", a stigmatic imaging mass spectrometer "MULTUM-IMG" and miniature mass spectrometers of high mass resolving power, the "MULTUM-S" series.

Development of an ion trap/multi-turn time-of-flight mass spectrometer with potential- lift

An ion trap/multi-turn time-of-flight (ToF) mass spectrometer with potential-lift has been developed. This system consists of an external ion source, a lens system, an ion trap, a potential-lift, a multi-turn ToF mass spectrometer and a detector. The ion trap consists of hyperbolic electrode cross-sections (Paul trap) and is used as an ion storage device. The potential-lift, which is part of the flight tube, was attached between the ion trap and the multi-turn ToF mass spectrometer. The potential-lift is known to be useful for increasing the kinetic energy of the ions. In order to check the ability of the potential-lift, mass distributions of [(CsI)(n) Cs]+ clusters (n = 1-9) were measured. The relative intensity ratios of the [(CsI)(n)Cs]+ clusters were consistent with the results obtained using other apparatus. To check the properties of the new apparatus, Xe+ isotopes were analyzed using either a linear or multi-turn ToF mass spectrometer. In the linear mode, the mass resolution was 500. In the multi-turn mode, the resolution depended on the number of cycles of the multi-turn ToF mass spectrometer; the mass resolution was 4400 (FWHM) after nine cycles. This new apparatus with a high resolution will be useful for measurements of ion-molecule reactions and photodissociations.

High-energy collision induced dissociation fragmentation pathways of peptides, probed using a multiturn tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometer "MULTUM-TOF/TOF"

A new multiturn tandem time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer "MULTUM-TOF/TOF" has been designed and constructed. It consists of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization ion source, a multiturn TOF mass spectrometer, a collision cell, and a quadratic-field ion mirror. The multiturn TOF mass spectrometer can overcome the problem of precursor ion selection in TOF, due to insufficient time separation between two adjacent TOF peaks, by increasing the number of cycles. As a result, the total TOF increases with the increase in resolving power. The quadratic-field ion mirror allows temporal focusing for fragment ions with different kinetic energies. Product ion spectra from monoisotopically selected precursor ions of angiotensin I, substance P, and bradykinin have been obtained. The fragment ions observed are mainly the result of high-energy collision induced dissociation.