A method of removing nuclear isobars from a mass spectrometric technique comprising directing ions, decelerating the ions, neutralizing a first portion of the ions, creating residual ions and a second portion of the ions, reionizing a selective portion of the ions, re-accelerating the selective reionized portion of ions, and directing the reionized portion of ions to a detector. An apparatus to remove nuclear isobars comprising a deceleration lens, an equipotential surface, an electron source to neutralize a portion of the ion beam, a deflector pair, a tunable resonance ionization laser for selective resonant reionization, and an acceleration lens.

A method of analysis using mass spectrometry and/or ion mobility spectrometry is disclosed. The method comprises: using a first device to generate smoke, aerosol or vapour from a target comprising or consisting of a microbial population; mass analysing and/or ion mobility analysing said smoke, aerosol or vapour, or ions derived therefrom, in order to obtain spectrometric data; and analysing said spectrometric data in order to analyse said microbial population.

The present disclosure relates to a device for filtering at least one selected ion from an ion beam includes a unit for creating an electric field for accelerating the ions of the ion beam along a flight path of predefinable length, and a controllable ion optical system, which delimits the flight path in one direction, and which is used to deflect the selected ion from a flight path of the ion beam. The device is further designed to control the ion optical system subject to a flight time of the selected ion along the flight path. The present disclosure also relates to a mass spectrometer having a device according to the present disclosure, and to a method for filtering at least one selected ion from an ion beam.

A mass spectrometry method comprises: (a) introducing ions and gas into a first electrode section of an ion transport apparatus along an axis, the ion transport apparatus further comprising a second electrode section including: a plurality of stacked, mutually parallel ring or plate electrodes; and an ion outlet aperture configured to receive the ions from the second electrode section and to transfer the ions to the vacuum chamber; (b) providing only non-oscillatory voltages to electrodes of the first electrode section of the ion transport apparatus that divert motion of the ions away from that axis and towards an entrance aperture of the second electrode section; (c) transporting the ions through the second electrode section to and through the ion outlet aperture to the vacuum chamber; and (d) removing a major portion of the gas through an exhaust port that is offset from the ion outlet aperture.

The invention provides hybrid mass spectrometric systems which comprise an ion source, a first trapped ion mobility spectrometry (TIMS) analyzer and a mass analyzer, wherein the TIMS analyzer is located and operated in a first vacuum chamber at an elevated pressure above 500 Pa, and methods for operating the hybrid mass spectrometric systems.

An efficient and stable secondary ion extraction apparatus for ion mass spectrometry has a sample target, a primary ion optical unit, a secondary ion extraction unit, an electronic gun, an ion lens and an ion deflection unit. The primary ion optical unit generates primary ions. The secondary ion extraction unit extracts secondary ions generated by the sample target. The electronic gun neutralizes charges accumulated on the surface of a sample. The ion lens focuses the secondary ions from the secondary ion extraction unit. The ion deflection unit carries out low-aberration deflection on the focused secondary ions. An extraction electrode consisting includes the surface of the sample target, a first extraction electrode and a second extraction electrode that extracts the secondary ions. When charges are accumulated on the surface of the sample target by the primary ions, the charges on the surface of the sample target are neutralized using the electronic gun.

Provided are ion detectors and systems that may employ such ion detectors such as mass spectrometers and other instruments. The ion detectors include a deflector that serves to generate an electric field with designed shape and strength that causes the ions passing into the detector to move along a deflection path. By selectively deflecting the charged ions from an initial propagation axis, the deflector effectively removes unwanted neutral particles from the ion path and reduces background in the resulting spectra.

A method of analysis using mass spectrometry and/or ion mobility spectrometry is disclosed. The method comprises: using a first device to generate smoke, aerosol or vapour from a target comprising or consisting of a microbial population; mass analysing and/or ion mobility analysing said smoke, aerosol or vapour, or ions derived therefrom, in order to obtain spectrometric data; and analysing said spectrometric data in order to analyse said microbial population.

To provide a mass spectrometer for higher ion permeation efficiency. In a mass spectrometer to transfer ions generated in an ion source 101 to a detector 106 through a vacuum chamber equipped with electrodes, the vacuum chamber includes a first vacuum chamber 107 and a second vacuum chamber 108 communicated by a pore 104 and an air flow containing ions introduced from the ion source 101 into the first vacuum chamber 107 is separated to an air flow 704 and an ion flow 703 by an ion guide 103 in the first vacuum chamber 107. The first vacuum chamber 107 has a current plate 113 to reduce mixing of the separated air flow 704 and ion flow 703.

An ion mobility spectrometry apparatus and method wherein ions are selected using an AC gate, then separated along a drift axis while providing a drift gas flow in a direction that is substantially neither in the direction of the drift axis nor opposite to the drift axis.