There is disclosed a method for eliminating an added crosstalk signal from a measured data signal, which is generated by an image current. There is further disclosed a signal processing unit for carrying out the method. There is still further disclosed a mass spectrometer and a mass analyser comprising the signal processing unit for carrying out the method. There is yet still further disclosed a Fourier transform mass spectrometer configured to eliminate the added crosstalk signal from a measured data signal.

A method of mass spectral analysis in an analytical electrostatic trap (14) is disclosed. The electrostatic trap (14) defines an electrostatic field volume and includes trap electrodes having static and non-ramped potentials. The method comprises injecting a continuous ion beam into the electrostatic field volume.

Ions are injected into an orbital electrostatic trap. An ejection potential is applied to an ion storage device, to cause ions stored in the ion storage device to be ejected towards the orbital electrostatic trap. Synchronous injection potentials are applied to a central electrode of the orbital electrostatic trap and a deflector electrode associated with the orbital electrostatic trap, to cause the ions ejected from the ion storage device to be captured by the electrostatic trap such that they orbit the central electrode. Application of the ejection potential and application of the synchronous injection potentials are each started at respective different times, the difference in times being selected based on desired values of mass-to-charge ratios of ions to be captured by the orbital electrostatic trap.

A Time of Flight mass analyser is disclosed comprising: at least one ion mirror ((34) for reflecting ions; an ion detector (36) arranged for detecting the reflected ions; a first pulsed ion accelerator (30) for accelerating an ion packet in a first dimension (Y-dimension) towards the ion detector (36) so that the ion packet spatially converges in the first dimension as it travels to the detector (36); and a pulsed orthogonal accelerator (32) for orthogonally accelerating the ion packet in a second, orthogonal dimension (X-dimension) into one of said at least one ion mirrors (34).

Provided are improved toroidal ion traps and methods of design of such ion traps. Toroidal ion traps include an inner electrode comprising a first surface; an outer electrode at least partially circumferentially surrounding the inner electrode, the outer electrode comprising a second surface substantially facing the first surface, wherein the outer electrode is spaced apart from the first surface in a radial direction; a first end electrode comprising a third surface; a second end electrode comprising a fourth surface substantially facing the third surface; an axis of rotation extending through the inner electrode; and wherein: the first, second, third, and fourth surfaces define an ion confinement cavity and at least portions of each of the first, second, third, and fourth surfaces extend through or along iso-potential surfaces associated with a linear combination of toroidal multipoles to generate an electric field extending through slits in the first and second end electrodes.

A charge detection mass spectrometer may include an electrostatic linear ion trap (ELIT) or an orbitrap, an ion source to supply ions thereto, at least one amplifier operatively coupled to the ELIT or orbitrap, a processor coupled to ELIT or orbitrap and to the amplifier(s), and processor programmed to control the ELIT or orbitrap as part of a trapping event to attempt to trap therein a single ion supplied by the ion source, to record ion measurement information based on output signals produced by the amplifier(s) over a duration of the trapping event, to determine, based on the measurement information, whether the control of the ELIT or orbitrap resulted in trapping of a single ion, no ion or multiple ions, and to compute an ion mass or mass-to-charge ratio from the measurement information only if a single ion was trapped during the trapping event.

An instrument for analyzing ions may include an ion source to generate ions, at least one ion processing instrument to process the generated ions by one or both of filtering the ions according to a molecular characteristic and dissociating the ions, and an electrostatic linear ion trap (ELIT) to receive and trap ions exiting the at least one ion processing instrument. The ELIT has first and second ion mirrors separated by a charge detection cylinder, and is configured such that trapped ions oscillate back and forth through the charge detection cylinder between the first and second ion mirrors with a duty cycle, corresponding to a ratio of time spent by the trapped ions traversing the charge detection cylinder and total time spent by the trapped ions traversing a combination of the first and second ion mirrors and the charge detection cylinder during one complete oscillation cycle, of approximately 50%.

An electrostatic linear ion trap (ELIT) array includes a plurality of ion mirrors and a plurality of elongated charge detection cylinders each defining an axial passageway centrally therethrough, the ion mirrors and the charge detection cylinders arranged relative to one another such that each charge detection cylinder is positioned between a different respective pair of the ion mirrors with the respective axial passageways of each coaxial with one another, wherein the axial passageways of the ELITs are not coaxial with one another, means for selectively directing at least one ion into each of the plurality of ELITs, and means for controlling each of the ion mirrors in a manner which causes the at least one ion in at least two of the ELITs to become trapped therein and to simultaneously oscillate back and forth between the respective ion mirrors each time passing through the respective charge detection cylinder.

Methods and systems for multi-beam, parallel-beam, deterministic, or super mass spectrometry that include an ion source that produces ions, and two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers, each having an independent sampling inlet. The two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers receive the ions from the ion source via the sampling inlet of each of the ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers such that each sampling inlet provides an ion beam to each corresponding ion trapping device or mass spectrometer.

An ion guide defining a guide axis receives ions. The ion guide applies a potential profile that includes a pseudopotential well to the ions using an ion control field. The ion control field includes a component for restraining movement of the ions normal to the guide axis and a component for controlling the movement of the ions parallel to the guide axis. The ion guide sequentially injects the ions with the same ion energy and in decreasing order of m/z value into an ELIT aligned along an ELIT axis to focus the ions irrespective of m/z value at the same location on the ELIT axis within the ELIT at the same time by varying a magnitude of the pseudopotential well. The ELIT can trap the focused ions using in-trap potential lift or mirror-switching ion capture.