A charged particle buncher includes a series of spaced apart electrodes arranged to generate a shaped electric field. The series includes a first electrode, a last electrode and one or more intermediate electrodes. The charged particle buncher includes a waveform device attached to the electrodes and configured to apply a periodic potential waveform to each electrode independently in a manner so as to form a quasi-electrostatic time varying potential gradient between adjacent electrodes and to cause spatial distribution of charged particles that form a plurality of nodes and antinodes. The nodes have a charged particle density and the antinodes have substantially no charged particle density, and the nodes and the antinodes are formed from a charged particle beam with an energy less than or equal to 500 keV.

A charged particle buncher includes a series of spaced apart electrodes arranged to generate a shaped electric field. The series includes a first electrode, a last electrode and one or more intermediate electrodes. The charged particle buncher includes a waveform device attached to the electrodes and configured to apply a periodic potential waveform to each electrode independently in a manner so as to form a quasi-electrostatic time varying potential gradient between adjacent electrodes and to cause spatial distribution of charged particles that form a plurality of nodes and antinodes. The nodes have a charged particle density and the antinodes have substantially no charged particle density, and the nodes and the antinodes are formed from a charged particle beam with an energy less than or equal to 500 keV.

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.

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.

An optical emission spectrometry instrument may comprise an inductively coupled plasma generator (ICP) with an electromagnetic coil having input and ground connectors. The electromagnetic coil may be mounted to a mounting disk, and the input connector may be coupled to a power output of a radio frequency power source, and the ground connector may be connected to the mounting disk. A spectro-chemical source may be used for sample excitation. The spectro-chemical source and the ICP may have a longitudinal axis. An optical system may be included for viewing the spectro-chemical source with a fixed view axis. The electromagnetic coil may be mounted pivotably around one of its connectors so that the orientation of the ICP can be altered from a first orientation of its longitudinal axis to a second orientation of its longitudinal axis, and vice versa.

An optical emission spectrometry instrument may comprise an inductively coupled plasma generator (ICP) with an electromagnetic coil having input and ground connectors. The electromagnetic coil may be mounted to a mounting disk, and the input connector may be coupled to a power output of a radio frequency power source, and the ground connector may be connected to the mounting disk. A spectro-chemical source may be used for sample excitation. The spectro-chemical source and the ICP may have a longitudinal axis. An optical system may be included for viewing the spectro-chemical source with a fixed view axis. The electromagnetic coil may be mounted pivotably around one of its connectors so that the orientation of the ICP can be altered from a first orientation of its longitudinal axis to a second orientation of its longitudinal axis, and vice versa.

An ion source is disclosed that alternates between ionizing analytes in a sample by electrospray ionization and impact ionization.

An ion source is disclosed that alternates between ionizing analytes in a sample by electrospray ionization and impact ionization.

An ion guide or mass analyser is disclosed comprising a plurality of electrodes having apertures through which ions are transmitted in use. A pseudo-potential barrier is created at the exit of the ion guide or mass analyser. The amplitude or depth of the pseudo-potential barrier is inversely proportional to the mass to charge ratio of an ion. One or more transient DC voltages are applied to the electrodes of the ion guide or mass analyser in order to urge ions along the length of the ion guides or mass analyser. The amplitude of the transient DC voltage applied to the electrode may be increased with time so that ions are caused to be emitted from the ion guide or mass analyser in reverse order of their mass to charge ratio.

Systems and methods for filtering a continuous beam of ions are provided. An acceleration electric field is applied to a continuous beam of ions using an accelerator to produce an accelerated beam of ions. A field is applied to the accelerated beam to separate ions in time and space using a deflector producing a separated beam of ions. The field applied by the deflector is a rotating field or a circulant rastering field. The rotating field can be a rotating magnetic or electric field. Only accept those ions from the separated beam whose m/z values lie within a range centered around a target m/z value using an aperture. The aperture can include a pinhole aperture in a rotating disk or an annular aperture in a first stationary disk, a second deflector, and a pinhole aperture in the center of a second stationary disk.