An ion carousel includes a first surface and a second surface adjacent to the first surface. The first and the second surfaces define an ion confinement volume. The second surface including a first inner array of electrodes arranged along a first path and configured to receive, at a first location on the first path, a first ion packet. The first inner array of electrodes are configured to generate a plurality of potential wells that include a first potential well and a second potential well. The first ion packet includes a first sub-packet of ions having a first mobility and a second sub-packet of ions having a second mobility, and the second ion packet includes a third sub-packet of ions having the first mobility and a fourth sub-packet of ions having the second mobility.

A first mass spectrum including a fragment ion peak is generated under application of a first ionization method. A second mass spectrum including a molecular ion peak is generated under application of a second ionization method. These mass spectra are synthesized to generate a synthesized mass spectrum. On the synthesized mass spectrum, difference information, such as a mass difference and difference composition, is calculated between the molecular ion peak and the fragment ion peak.

A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising a glow discharge device within the initial vacuum chamber of the mass spectrometer. The glow discharge device may comprise a tubular electrode located within an isolation valve, which is provided in the vacuum chamber. Reagent vapour may be provided through the tubular electrode, which is then subsequently ionised by the glow discharge. The resulting reagent ions may be used for Electron Transfer Dissociation of analyte ions generated by an atmospheric pressure ion source. Other embodiments are contemplated wherein the ions generated by the glow discharge device may be used to reduce the charge state of analyte ions by Proton Transfer Reaction or may act as lock mass or reference ions.

Disclosed herein are embodiments of a system for selectively ionizing samples that may comprise a plurality of different analytes that are not normally detectable using the same ionization technique. The disclosed system comprises a unique split flow tube that can be coupled with a plurality of ionization sources to facilitate using different ionization techniques for the same sample. Also disclosed herein are embodiments of a method for determining the presence of analytes in a sample, wherein the number and type of detectable analytes that can be identified is increased and sensitivity and selectivity are not sacrificed.

Devices, systems and methods including a spray chamber are described. In certain examples, the spray chamber may be configured with an outer chamber configured to provide tangential gas flows. In other instances, an inner tube can be positioned within the outer chamber and may comprise a plurality of microchannels. In some examples, the outer chamber may comprise dual gas inlet ports. In some instances, the spray chamber may be configured to provide tangential gas flow and laminar gas flows to prevent droplet formation on surfaces of the spray chamber. Optical emission devices, optical absorption devices and mass spectrometers using the spray chamber are also described.

An ionizer includes a probe having multiple coaxially aligned conduits. The conduits may carry liquids, and nebulizing and heating gases at various flow rates and temperatures, for generation of ions from a liquid source. An outermost conduit defines an entrainment region that transports and entrains ions in a gas for a defined distance along the length of the conduits. In embodiments, various voltages may be applied to the multiple conduits to aid in ionization and to guide ions. Depending on the voltages applied to the multiple conduits and electrodes, the ionizer can act as an electrospray, APCI, or APPI source. Further, the ionizer may include a source of photons or a source of corona ionization. Formed ions may be provided to a downstream mass analyser.

Techniques and systems for multi-modal ionization for mass spectrometry are provided. In some embodiments, a method may comprise: receiving an analyte; ionizing some molecules of the analyte using a first ionization method to produce first ions; ionizing other molecules of the analyte using a second ionization method to produce second ions; and providing the first and second ions to a mass analyzer.

An ionization method selection assisting image includes a coefficient axis indicating the magnitude of a partition coefficient, a plurality of method indicators representing a plurality of coefficients or a plurality of coefficient ranges corresponding to a plurality of ionization methods, and a sample marker representing the partition coefficient specified for a sample. The ionization method selection assisting image is displayed to a user. A partition coefficient may be specified for a sample after derivatization.

A time-of-flight mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising ion optics that map an array of ions at an ion source array (71) to a corresponding array of positions on a position sensitive ion detector (79). The ion optics include at least one gridless ion mirror (76) for reflecting ions, which may compensate for various aberrations and allows the spectrometer to have relatively high mass and spatial resolutions.

A liquid sample analyzing system including an ion analyzer having a first ion source receiving a target sample and a second ion source receiving a reference sample; a liquid sample introduction mechanism 3 including a passage-switching section introducing reference samples into the second ion source; and a controller for repeatedly performing a series of steps in the ion analyzer, the steps including: a pre-measurement step for initiating a measurement; a measurement step for introducing a target sample into the first ion source and performing a measurement on an ion originating from the target sample along with an ion originating from a reference sample introduced into the second ion source by the liquid sample introduction mechanism; and a post-measurement step where the liquid sample introduction mechanism operates concurrently with the predetermined post-measurement step to switch the passage-switching section to a passage having a reference sample for the next analysis.