When a normal mass spectrometry is performed without dissociating an ion, the m/z range limitation voltage setting unit applies a radio-frequency voltage to each rod electrode of the quadrupole mass filter and controls the quadrupole voltage generator so as to apply a direct current voltage smaller than that at the time of ion selection for MS/MS spectrometry. When a small direct current voltage is applied, a mass scanning line is set so as to pass through a stability region on a Mathieu diagram over a long range, hence large m/z ions that do not fall within the stability region are blocked in the quadrupole mass filter. By adjusting a cut-off point on larger m/z side blocked in accordance with the measurement period of OA-TOFMS including the orthogonal accelerator, heavy ions that cause period delay are prevented from being introduced into the orthogonal accelerator.

A method of operating a quadrupole device is disclosed that comprises operating the quadrupole device in a first mode of operation, passing ions into the quadrupole device while the quadrupole device is operated in the first mode of operation, and then operating the quadrupole device in a second mode of operation. Operating the quadrupole device in the second mode of operation comprises applying one or more drive voltages to the quadrupole device, and operating the quadrupole device in the first mode of operation comprises applying one or more reduced drive voltages or not applying one or more drive voltages to the quadrupole device.

A traveling wave multipole comprising two or more pairs of segmented electrodes arranged around a central axis; and a voltage supply. The voltage supply configured to supply the segments of each pair of electrodes with a different RF and DC potential; and match RF and DC potentials with a location of an ion of target m/z moving through the traveling wave multipole such that as the ion travels along the multipole the ion experiences the same RF and DC potentials while another ion of a second target m/z concurrently experiences a different RF and DC potentials at another location within the traveling wave multipole.

A method of operating a quadrupole mass filter is disclosed. A first set of RF and resolving DC voltages are applied to electrodes of a quadrupole mass filter to selectively transmit first ions having a first mass-to-charge ratio (m/z). A second set of RF and resolving DC voltages are applied to electrodes of the quadrupole mass filter to selectively transmit second ions having a second m/z. Detection of the second ions is initiated after completion of a settling time. The settling time is determined in accordance with the relationship: Eq. 1, where t.sub.s is the settling time, (m/z).sub.1 is the first mass-to-charge ratio, (m/z).sub.2 is the second mass-to-charge ratio and A, B and C are empirically derived coefficients.

The invention generally relates to systems and methods for conducting neutral loss scans in a single ion trap. In certain aspects, the invention provides systems that include a mass spectrometer having a single ion trap, and a central processing unit (CPU), and storage coupled to the CPU for storing instructions that when executed by the CPU cause the system to apply a scan function that excites a precursor ion, rejects the precursor ion after its excitation, and ejects a product ion in the single ion trap.

A multipole assembly configured to be disposed in a mass spectrometer includes a plurality of elongate electrodes arranged about an axis extending along a longitudinal trajectory of the plurality of elongate electrodes and configured to confine ions radially about the axis, and a piezoelectric actuator configured to adjust a position of a first electrode included in the plurality of elongate electrodes.

The invention generally relates to systems and methods for conducting neutral loss scans in a single ion trap. In certain aspects, the invention provides systems that include a mass spectrometer having a single ion trap, and a central processing unit (CPU), and storage coupled to the CPU for storing instructions that when executed by the CPU cause the system to apply a scan function that excites a precursor ion, rejects the precursor ion after its excitation, and ejects a product ion in the single ion trap.

A multipole assembly configured to be disposed in a mass spectrometer includes a plurality of elongate electrodes arranged about an axis extending along a longitudinal trajectory of the plurality of elongate electrodes and configured to confine ions radially about the axis, and a piezoelectric actuator configured to adjust a position of a first electrode included in the plurality of elongate electrodes.

A quadrupole mass analyzer according to the present invention optimizes a stability band formation mode of a quadrupole system, so as to facilitate passing of ions and blocking of excessive ions, thereby improving the mass resolution without reducing the ion transmission efficiency. The solution of the present invention avoids the superimposition of high-frequency AC signals needed in the ion two-direction resonance frequency control in the prior art, and can effectively reduce the risk of quadrupole working performance reduction caused by the non-linear distortion of an RF voltage caused by bandwidth limitation in a fast RF circuit. In addition, a scanning speed of an ion-controlled electric field required by the quadrupole mass spectrometry can also be controlled faster because of reduction of limit bandwidth of various needed AC excitation signals. It is advantageous to obtain high-speed quadrupole scanning mass spectrometry performance.

A multipole assembly configured to be disposed in a mass spectrometer includes a plurality of elongate electrodes arranged about an axis extending along a longitudinal trajectory of the plurality of elongate electrodes and configured to confine ions radially about the axis, and a piezoelectric actuator configured to adjust a position of a first electrode included in the plurality of elongate electrodes.