Provided herein are systems and methods for sampling analytes into an atmospheric pressure inlet mass spectrometer using ultrasonic nebulization-assisted atmospheric pressure chemical ionization. The systems can include a mass spectrometer having an input and an ultrasonic nebulizer chip. The ultrasonic nebulizer chip can be operatively coupled to the mass spectrometer, such that when the ultrasonic nebulizer chip nebulizes the analyte to provide a nebulized analyte, at least some of the nebulized analyte enters the input of the mass spectrometer.

In a mass spectrometer according to the present invention, when MRM measurements for a plurality of MRM transitions need to be performed within one cycle, a measurement order rearranger determines an analysis sequence by sorting the measurement in ascending order of the absolute value of an optimum application voltage (an application voltage which gives the highest ionization efficiency) to the nozzle of the ESI probe. An analysis controller performs the analysis by controlling the high-voltage power source and other relevant units according to the determined analysis sequence. Since the voltage applied to the nozzle within one cycle has no period in which the voltage is changed in the decreasing direction with the same polarity, the cycle time becomes shorter than in a conventional device.

An apparatus includes a first pair of opposing electrode arrangements that confine ions between them in a portion of a confinement volume inwardly laterally in a first confinement direction with respect to a longitudinal ion propagation direction, each opposing electrode arrangement including an arrangement of RF electrodes situated to receive an unbiased RF voltage having an alternate phase between adjacent RF electrodes of the arrangement of RF electrodes so as to provide the confining of ions between the first pair of opposing electrode arrangements, and a second pair of opposing electrode arrangements that confine the ions between the second pair in the confinement volume inwardly laterally in a second confinement direction that complements the first confinement direction, each opposing electrode arrangement of the second pair including an arrangement of RF electrodes that receive an unbiased RF voltage having an alternate phase between adjacent RF electrodes.

Among other things, we describe methods and apparatus for the ionization of target molecular analytes of interest, e.g., for use in mass spectrometry. In some implementations, a thin molecular stream is emitted in either single or a split mode and encounters both an electron-impact ion source and trochoidal electron monochromator placed sequentially or coincidently. The first ion source emits high-energy electrons (70 eV) to generate characteristic positively-charged mass fragment spectra while the second source emits low-energy electrons in a narrow bandwidth to generate negative molecular ions or other ions via electron capture ionization. The dual ion source may be coupled to analytical instruments such as a gas chromatograph and to any number of mass analyzers such as a polarity switching quadrupole mass analyzer or to multiple mass analyzers.

The disclosure features mass spectrometry systems and methods that include an ion source, an ion trap, a detector subsystem featuring first and second detector elements, and a controller electrically connected to the ion source, the ion trap, and the detector subsystem and configured so that during operation of the system, the controller: applies an electrical signal to the ion source to generate positively and negatively charged particles from sample particles in the system; applies an electrical signal to the ion trap to eject a plurality of particles from the ion trap through a common aperture of the ion trap, and determines information about the sample particles based on first and second electrical signals generated by the ejected particles.

The present invention is a mass spectrometer (1) for sequentially performing a measurement for a plurality of target ions, characterized by a storage section (41) for holding ion time-of-flight information concerning the time required for each of target ions to fly through each of the sections constituting the mass spectrometer, and a voltage controller (42) for changing, based on the ion time-of-flight information, the voltage applied to each of those sections to a voltage suited for each target ion, with a time lag corresponding to the difference in the timing of the arrival of the target ion at the section concerned.

A mass spectrometer and method is provided for a time-of-flight analyzer (TOF) having an accelerator stage with a plurality of electrodes to receive and accelerate a plurality of ions, and a drift chamber downstream of the accelerator stage for receiving at least a portion of the accelerated ions. The TOF analyzer also has a pulser coupled to the accelerator stage for applying one or more voltages to the plurality of electrodes and a controller coupled to the pulser to adjust one or more voltages applied to the electrodes to configure the accelerator stage to receive and accelerate positive and negative ions during different cycles of an ion detection period.

The invention provides ionizing matrix compounds. These compounds are useful for mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry as ionizing matrices facilitating transfer of diverse classes of analyte compounds from solid or solution states to gas-phase ions.

The present invention is concerned with a device for charged particle transportation and manipulation. Embodiments provide a capability of combining positively and negatively charged particles in a single transported packet. Embodiments contain an aggregate of electrodes arranged to form a channel for transportation of charged particles, as well as a source of power supply that provides supply voltage to be applied to the electrodes, the voltage to ensure creation, inside the said channel, of a non-uniform high-frequency electric field, the pseudopotential of which field has one or more local extrema along the length of the channel used for charged particle transportation, at least, within a certain interval of time, whereas, at least one of the said extrema of the pseudopotential is transposed with time, at least within a certain interval of time, at least within a part of the length of the channel used for charged particle transportation.

A collision cell for a mass spectrometer arranged to receive ions for fragmentation in a chamber and comprising an activation ion generator configured to irradiate the received ions with activation ions of the same polarity as the received ions. The activation ion generator is preferably a plasma generator, configured to generate a plasma comprising the activation ions.