Ions ejected substantially simultaneously from a collision cell after being temporarily held inside the collision cell arrive at an orthogonal acceleration unit through an ion transport optical system. When the ions enter the orthogonal acceleration unit, voltages having a predetermined potential difference are applied to an entrance-side electrode and an exit-side auxiliary electrode, and as a result an electric field having a rising potential gradient along an axis is created in the orthogonal acceleration unit. As ions having low an m/z values and entering the orthogonal acceleration unit first is significantly decelerate, the packet of ions spread in the X-axis direction in accordance with the m/z values are compressed in the X-axis direction after entering the orthogonal acceleration unit. Thus, a mass-to-charge ratio range of ions that are accelerated in the orthogonal acceleration unit is broadened, and a mass spectrum of a broad range of mass-to-charge ratios can be obtained.

A novel MS-MS apparatus utilizing electrostatic traps is disclosed, along with an associated method of analysis. The apparatus may include a chromatograph, an ion source, a first mass spectrometer, a fragmentation cell, an ion guide, a pulsed converter, and a Z-directional elongated electrostatic trap. The electrostatic trap, which may be Z-elongated into a cylindrical electrostatic trap, includes at least one of an image current detector and a time-of-flight detector. The pulsed converter is Z-directionally elongated to match the electrostatic trap. Ion selection from electrostatic traps may be accomplished with an electrode that ejects ion from an oscillation space to a time-of-flight detector, a fragmentation surface, or a passage between E-trap regions.

An ion trap mass spectrometer including an ion trap analyzer, an ion packet injector, and an ion detector is disclosed, along with a method of mass spectrometry. The ion packet injector injects packets of ions into a field of the ion trap analyzer. The ion packets move along isochronous oscillations according to their mass-to-charge ration. The ion detector may be implemented as a novel image current detector, a novel time-of-flight detector, or a combination of the two. The novel image current detector may comprise segments along an X-axis or a Z-axis of the mass spectrometer. The novel time-of-flight detector may sample a portion of ions of the ion packet per each isochronous oscillation.

A Time of Flight mass analyzer is disclosed comprising an annular ion guide having a longitudinal axis and comprising a first annular ion guide section and a second annular ion guide section. Ions are introduced into the first annular ion guide section so that the ions form substantially stable circular orbits within the first annular ion guide section about the longitudinal axis. An ion detector is disposed within the annular ion guide. Ions are orthogonally accelerated in a first axial direction from the first annular ion guide section into the second annular ion guide section. An axial DC potential is maintained along at least a portion of the second annular ion guide section so that the ions are reflected in a second axial direction which is substantially opposed to the first axial direction. The ions undergo multiple axial passes through the second annular ion guide section before being detected by the ion detector.

A device for mass spectrometry in continuous operation can be equipped with a focused electron beam source or laser radiation source. It can further include a vacuum chamber, a stage for placing the specimen, and an ion beam column with a plasma source for producing a primary ion beam and a secondary ion mass spectrometer for secondary ion analysis. The ion beam column is connected to an inert gas source and to a reactive gas source and is modified for simultaneous introduction of at least two gases from the inert gas source and reactive gas source. The secondary ion mass spectrometer is of an orthogonal Time-of-Flight type to ensure the function with the ion beam column in continuous operation.

An ion spectrometer is provided, comprising: an ion source, arranged to generate ions continuously with a first range of mass to charge ratios; and an ion trap, arranged to receive ions from the ion source along an axis, and to eject ions with a second range of mass to charge ratios orthogonally to that axis, the second range of mass to charge ratios being narrower than the first range of mass to charge ratios. In some embodiments, ions generated by the ion source continuously flow into the ion trap. Additionally or alternatively, ion optics receive ions ejected from the ion trap and cool the ions without substantial fragmentation. An ion analyser receives ions ejected from the ion trap or ion optics and separates the ions in accordance with at least one characteristic of the ions.

A mass spectrometer system for elemental analysis of a planar sample is provided. In some embodiments, the mass spectrometer system comprises: a primary ion source capable of irradiating a segment on planar sample with a beam of primary ions that is less than 1 mm in diameter, c) an orthogonal ion mass-to-charge ratio analyzer positioned downstream of sample interface, the analyzer being configured to separate secondary elemental atomic ions according to their mass-to-charge ratio by time of flight; d) an ion detector for detecting the secondary elemental atomic ions and producing mass spectra measurements; and e) a synchronizer, wherein the system is configured so that so that the beam of primary ions scans across the planar sample in two dimensions and the synchronizer associates the mass spectra measurements with positions on the planar sample.

An open electrostatic trap mass spectrometer is disclosed for operation with wide and diverging ion packets. Signal on detector is composed of signals corresponding to multiplicity of ion cycles, called multiplets. Using reproducible distribution of relative intensity within multiplets, the signal can be unscrambled for relatively sparse spectra, such as spectra past fragmentation cell of tandem mass spectrometer, past ion mobility and differential ion mobility separators. Various embodiments are provided for particular pulsed ion sources and pulsed converters such as orthogonal accelerators, ion guides, and ion traps. The method and apparatus enhance the duty cycle of pulsed converters, improve space charge tolerance of the open trap analyzer and extends the dynamic range of time-of-flight detectors.

Used as an ion beam guiding unit for introducing primary ions to the surface of the sample is an ion optical system of reflectron TOFMS for achieving time focusing including an orthogonal acceleration unit for accelerating the ions in the orthogonal direction, a flight space of a non-electric field, and an ion reflector for forming a reflecting electric field. A dual stage type is used as the ion reflector to superimpose the correction potential showing a predetermined non-linear potential distribution on the potential having a linear gradient of a uniform electric field at the side deeper than the second order focusing position that fulfills the Mamyrin solution, thereby correcting the temporal spread of ion packets emitted from the orthogonal acceleration unit until the deviation of third or higher order in energy, achieving high time focusing.

A method of analysing ions is disclosed comprising: (i) separating ions according to a physico-chemical property in a separator; (ii) transmitting ions which emerge from the separator through a transfer device with a first transit time t1, energising a pusher electrode or orthogonal acceleration electrode and obtaining first data; (iii) transmitting ions which subsequently emerge from the separator through the transfer device with a second greater transit time t2, energising the pusher electrode or orthogonal acceleration electrode and obtaining second data; and (iv) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) one or more times. The pusher electrode or orthogonal acceleration electrode is energised with a period t3, wherein t2t1 is arranged to equal t3/2. The first and second data are combined to form a composite data set.