A first multipole assembly includes a first plurality of rod electrodes arranged about an axis and configured to confine ions radially about the axis. A second multipole assembly disposed adjacent to the first multipole assembly includes a second plurality of rod electrodes arranged about the axis and configured to confine the ions radially about the axis. An orientation of the first multipole assembly about the axis is rotationally offset relative to an orientation of the second multipole assembly about the axis.

A mass spectrometer is disclosed comprising an ion optics device housing having one or more external electrical connectors (1719) provided thereon. An ion optics device (301) is arranged inside the ion optics device housing, the ion optics device (301) comprising one or more electrodes for manipulating ions, the one or more electrodes being electrically connected to the one or more external electrical connectors (1719) provided on the ion optics device housing. A voltage supply housing (1717) is provided having one or more external electrical connectors provided thereon. One or more voltage supplies are arranged inside the voltage supply housing (1717), the one or more voltage supplies being in electrical communication with the one or more external electrical connectors provided on the voltage supply housing. The one or more external electrical connectors provided on the voltage supply housing are directly physically and electrically connected to the one or more external electrical connectors (1719) provided on the ion optics device housing.

The invention relates to hybrid IMS/MS systems and provides hybrid IMS/MS system comprising an RF funnel, an ion mobility analyzer and a mass analyzer wherein the RF funnel is arranged non-collinearly to the ion mobility analyzer, preferably a TIMS analyzer (TIMS=trapped ion mobility spectrometry).

A mass spectrometer system, comprises: an ion source; a first and a second multipole apparatus; one or more ion gates or ion lenses between the first and second multipole apparatuses; at least one power supply configured to provide voltages to electrodes of the ion source, the mass analyzer, the first and second multipole apparatuses and the one or more ion gates or ion lenses; and a computer or electronic controller electrically coupled to the at least one power supply, wherein the computer or electronic controller comprises computer-readable instructions that are operable to cause the at least one power supply to supply voltages to the electrodes that cause transfer of ions from the first multipole apparatus to the second multipole apparatus, wherein a duration of a time allotted for completion of the transfer of the ions is dependent upon one or more properties of the ions being transferred.

A mass spectrometry imaging system includes an ionization source located at a first location configured to produce ions from a surface of a sample at the first location; a mass spectrometer located at a second location configured to perform mass spectrometry analysis by analyzing the produced ions based on mass to charge ratio of the ions; and an ion transfer device configured to transfer the ions from the first location to the second location such that the ion transfer device includes a plurality of electrodes, the plurality of electrodes configured to be flexible or flexibly connected to each other, and the ion transfer device is configured to be flexible or re-configurable while transferring the ions.

An ion guide may comprise a set of plate electrodes, each plate electrode having a plurality of apertures formed therethrough. The set of plate electrodes are spatially arranged such that a relative positioning of each plurality of apertures of a respective plate electrode of the set of plate electrodes and respective adjacent plate electrodes of the set of plate electrodes defines a continuous ion flight path through the respective plurality of apertures of each plate electrode of the set of plate electrodes. The continuous ion flight path has a helical-based and/or spiral-based shape.

A component of an ion optical device is manufactured. The component comprises aligned first and second electrode sets. A first material is machined to provide a part-machined first electrode set that comprises the first electrode set attached to a frame part of the first material. A second material is machined to provide a part-machined second electrode set that comprises the second electrode set attached to a frame part of the second material. The component of the ion optical device is assembled by aligning the part-machined first and second electrode sets. Subsequent to aligning the part-machined first and second electrode sets, the part-machined first electrode set is further machined to separate the first electrode set from the frame part of the first material and the part-machined second electrode set is further machined to separate the second electrode set from the frame part of the second material.

A device includes a first surface, a second surface and a controller. The second surface is adjacent to the first surface. The first and the second surfaces define a first ion channel therebetween. The first ion channel extends along a first direction. The second surface includes a first plurality of electrodes including a first electrode and a second electrode spaced apart from the first electrode along a second direction lateral to the first direction. The first plurality of electrodes extends along the first direction. The first electrode is configured to receive a first voltage signal and generate at least a portion of a pseudopotential that inhibits ions in the first ion channel from approaching the second surface. The second plurality of electrodes is located between the first electrode and the second electrode and arranged along the first direction. The second plurality of electrodes are configured to receive a second voltage signal to generate a first traveling drive potential that travels along the first direction. The first traveling drive potential is configured to guide ions along the first ion channel. The device further includes a controller electrically coupled to the first and the second surface. The controller is configured to generate the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal.

An ion optical arrangement (1) for use in a mass spectrometer comprises electrodes (11, 12, 14) comprising a multipole arrangement defining an ion optical axis, and a voltage source for providing voltages to the electrodes to produce electric fields. The ion optical arrangement is configured for producing a radio frequency electric focusing field for focusing ions on the ion optical axis. The radio frequency electric focusing field has a varying frequency so as to reduce any mass dependence of ion trajectories through the ion optical arrangement. The ion optical arrangement may further be configured for producing a static electric field in response to a DC bias voltage applied to the multipole arrangement. A superimposed varying electric field may be produced by superimposing an AC voltage upon the DC bias voltage.

A mass spectrometric system comprises an RF-device for transversely confining ions in an ion region using: (a) a first set of electrodes arranged parallel to one another along a direction of ion travel to define a first transverse boundary of the ion region, and that are supplied with a first RF-voltage such that opposite phases of the first RF-voltage are applied to adjacent electrodes of the first set; and (b) a second set of electrodes arranged parallel to one another along said direction of ion travel to define a second transverse boundary of the ion region, and that are supplied with a second RF-voltage such that opposite phases of the second RF-voltage are applied to adjacent electrodes of the second set, the first and second transverse boundaries being opposite each other in a transverse direction of the ion region and the first and second RF voltages having different frequencies.