An ion detection system is disclosed that comprises one or more first devices 11 configured to produce secondary electrons in response to incident ions. The one or more first devices 11 comprise a first ion collection region and a second ion collection region and are configured to produce first secondary electrons in response to one or more ions incident at the first ion collection region and to produce second secondary electrons in response to one or more ions incident at the second ion collection region. The ion detection system also comprises a first output device 14 configured to output a first signal in response to first secondary electrons produced by the one or more first devices 11 and a second output device 15 configured to output a second signal in response to second secondary electrons produced by the one or more first devices 11.

A method of mass and/or ion mobility spectrometry is disclosed that includes ionising analyte from a sample so as to generate a plurality of ions, separating precursor ions from first fragment and/or other ions of the plurality of ions, fragmenting or reacting at least some of the precursor ions using a fragmentation, reaction or collision device so as to generate second fragment ions, and then analysing at least some ions that emerge from the fragmentation, reaction or collision device. The sample is classified and/or identified based on the analysis of the second fragment ions.

Systems and methods are disclosed for identifying actual XIC peaks of compounds of interest from samples so that more accurate expected retention times and more accurate expected retention time windows can be calculated. In one system, an actual XIC peak is identified using standard samples. The ratio of the quantity of the compound of interest in any two different samples is known, so this ratios is compared to the intensities of the XIC peak calculated in the two samples to identify an actual XIC peak. In another system, an actual XIC peak is identified using information about other compounds of interest in a plurality of samples. It is known that the XIC peaks of compounds of interest in the same samples have a similar distribution of retention times across those samples, so the distributions of retention times of XIC peaks are compared to identify actual XIC peaks.

A method of analysing a structure of a composition of matter in a sample includes obtaining a data set comprising a plurality of spectra from the composition, from a first method of analysis, dividing each of the spectra into a plurality of bins, determining a control parameter or parameters indicative of synchronised fluctuations in signal intensity across some or all channels, resulting in universal correlation between said bins, and determining a partial covariance of different bins across the plurality of spectra using the control parameter to correct the correlation of intensity fluctuations between said bins.

Disclosed herein is a method for verifying the primary structure of a protein through comparative analyses between ion clusters observed in mass spectra and a series of simulated ion clusters deduced from its putative chemical formula. The method comprises the steps of: preparing a protein sample for mass spectrometric analyses; collecting mass spectra of the protein sample; obtaining master ion cluster from a plurality of ion clusters in the mass spectra; producing a series of simulated ion clusters according to the chemical formula of the protein; finding the best fit for the master ion cluster among the series of simulated ion clusters; and verifying if said best-fit simulated ion cluster corresponds to the chemical formula of the protein.

A method of performing mass spectrometry includes accumulating, over an accumulation time, ions produced from components eluting from a chromatography column and transferring the accumulated ions to a mass analyzer. During an acquisition, a mass spectrum of detected ions derived from the transferred ions is acquired. An elution profile is obtained from a series of acquired mass spectra including the acquired mass spectrum and a plurality of previously-acquired mass spectra. The elution profile includes a plurality of detection points representing intensity of the detected ions as a function of time. A current signal state of the elution profile is classified based on a subset of detection points included in the plurality of detection points. The accumulation time for a next acquisition of a mass spectrum is set based on the classified current signal state of the elution profile.

The present disclosure provides a method for simultaneously measuring the value of forsterite and trace elements in olivine, comprising the following steps: Step S1: selecting samples, wherein the samples are olivine samples; Step S2: placing the samples in a sample chamber of LA-ICP-MS, and adjusting the position of the samples in the optical axis direction so that the laser beam is well focused; Step S3: optimizing the instrument to make the signal-to-noise ratio of .sup.57Fe be the best; Step S4: adopting LA-ICP-MS peak hopping mode and receiving all the mass peaks of the samples by single electron multiplier (SEM). The present disclosure overcomes the disadvantages of long test cycle and high test cost in the prior art.

The invention relates to a method to evaluate mass spectrometry data for the analysis of peptides from biological samples, particularly MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry data, comprising the steps of: providing expected mass defects; determining measured mass defects, i.e. the mass defects resulting from the mass spectrometry data; and comparing the measured mass defects with the expected mass defects.

A mass spectrometry method using a mass spectrometer 1 including a first moving mechanism 151 configured to move a sample stage 14 in a first direction in a plane parallel to the sample stage 14 and a second moving mechanism 152 configured to move the first moving mechanism 151 in a second direction different from the first direction in a plane parallel to the sample stage 14. The mass spectrometry method causes an irradiation point of excitation beam to be intermittently moved between a plurality of measurement points two-dimensionally arranged on a sample placed on the sample stage 14 with the first direction as a main movement direction (Step 4), and performs mass spectrometry at each of a plurality of the measurement points (Step 5).

The invention relates to a particle detector, comprising: a measuring electrode for measuring charged particles, a detection device for detecting the charged particles measured by the measuring electrode, and an evaluation device for determining the number of charged particles detected by the detection device. The detection device has a charge amplifier for converting a charge signal generated by the charged particles into a voltage signal and an amplifier device for amplifying the voltage signal.