Abstract
A multi-reflection mass spectrometer is provided comprising two ion-optical mirrors, each mirror elongated generally along a drift direction (Y), each mirror opposing the other in an X direction, the X direction being orthogonal to Y, characterized in that the mirrors are not a constant distance from each other in the X direction along at least a portion of their lengths in the drift direction. In use, ions are reflected from one opposing mirror to the other a plurality of times while drifting along the drift direction so as to follow a generally zigzag path within the mass spectrometer. The motion of ions along the drift direction is opposed by an electric field resulting from the non-constant distance of the mirrors from each other along at least a portion of their lengths in the drift direction that causes the ions to reverse their direction.
Claims
1. A multi-reflection mass spectrometer comprising two ion-optical mirrors, each mirror elongated generally along a drift direction (Y), each mirror opposing the other in an X direction and having a space therebetween, the X direction being orthogonal to Y, and further comprising one or more compensation electrodes, each electrode being elongated in the Y direction along a substantial portion of the drift length, and being located either side of the space extending between the opposing mirrors, the spectrometer further comprising an ion injector located at one end of the ion-optical mirrors in the drift direction arranged so that in use it injects ions such that they oscillate between the opposing mirrors whilst proceeding along a drift length in the Y direction; the compensation electrodes being, in use, electrically biased such that the total time of flight of ions is substantially independent of the drift length traveled.
2. The multi-reflection mass spectrometer of claim 1 in which the period of ion oscillation between the mirrors is not substantially constant along the whole of the drift length.
3. The multi-reflection mass spectrometer of claim 1 in which the motion of ions along the drift direction is opposed by electric field components resulting from the one or more electrically biased compensation electrodes.
4. The multi-reflection mass spectrometer of claim 1 in which the one or more compensation electrodes are, in use, electrically biased so as to produce, in at least a portion of the space between the mirrors, an electrical potential offset which varies as a function of the distance along the drift length.
5. The multi-reflection mass spectrometer of claim 1 in which the one or more compensation electrodes comprises a pair of compensation electrodes, each of which is disposed either side of a space between the mirrors and has a surface having a polynomial profile in the X-Y plane such that the said surfaces extend towards each mirror a greater distance in the regions near one or both the ends of the mirrors than in the central region between the ends.
6. The multi-reflection mass spectrometer of claim 1 in which the one or more compensation electrodes comprises a pair of compensation electrodes, each of which is disposed either side of a space between the mirrors and has a surface having a polynomial profile in the X-Y plane such that the said surfaces extend towards each mirror a lesser distance in the regions near one or both the ends of the mirrors than in the central region between the ends.
7. The multi-reflection mass spectrometer of claim 1 in which the ions are turned around after passing along the drift length and proceed back along the drift length towards the ion injector.
8. The multi-reflection mass spectrometer of claim 1 further comprising a detector located in a region adjacent the ion injector.
9. The multi-reflection mass spectrometer of claim 1 in which the mirrors are arranged parallel to each other.
10. The multi-reflection mass spectrometer of claim 1 in which the mirrors are not parallel to each other.
11. A method of mass spectrometry comprising the steps of injecting ions into an injection region of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer comprising two ion-optical mirrors, each mirror elongated generally along a drift direction (Y), each mirror opposing the other in an X direction and having a space therebetween, the X direction being orthogonal to Y, so that the ions oscillate between the opposing mirrors whilst proceeding along a drift length in the Y direction; the spectrometer further comprising one or more compensation electrodes each electrode being elongated in the Y direction along a substantial portion of the drift length, and being located either side of the space extending between the opposing mirrors, the compensation electrodes being, in use, electrically biased such that the total time of flight of ions is substantially independent of the drift length traveled; and detecting at least some of the ions during or after their passage through the mass spectrometer.
12. The method of mass spectrometry of claim 11 in which that the distance between subsequent points in the Y-direction at which the ions turn monotonously changes with Y during at least a part of the motion of the ions along the drift direction.
13. The method of mass spectrometry of claim 11 in which the period of ion oscillation between the mirrors is not substantially constant along the whole of the drift length.
14. The method of mass spectrometry of claim 11 in which both mirrors are elongated linearly along the drift direction and are arranged an equal distance apart in the X direction.
15. The method of mass spectrometry of claim 11 in which the mirrors are not parallel to each other.
16. The method of mass spectrometry of claim 11 in which the one or more compensation electrodes are, in use, electrically biased so as to produce, in at least a portion of the space between the mirrors, an electrical potential offset which varies as a function of the distance along the drift length.
17. The method of mass spectrometry of claim 11 in which the one or more compensation electrodes comprises a pair of compensation electrodes, each of which is disposed either side of a space between the mirrors and has a surface having a polynomial profile in the X-Y plane such that the said surfaces extend towards each mirror a greater distance in the regions near one or both the ends of the mirrors than in the central region between the ends.
18. The method of mass spectrometry of claim 11 in which the one or more compensation electrodes comprises a pair of compensation electrodes, each of which is disposed either side of a space between the mirrors and has a surface having a polynomial profile in the X-Y plane such that the said surfaces extend towards each mirror a lesser distance in the regions near one or both the ends of the mirrors than in the central region between the ends.
19. The method of mass spectrometry of claim 11 in which the ions are turned around after passing along the drift length and proceed back along the drift length towards the ion injector.
20. The method of mass spectrometry of claim 11 in which detecting at least some of the ions comprises causing at least some of the ions to impinge upon a detector located in a region adjacent the injection region.
Description
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
(1) FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are schematic diagrams of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer comprising two parallel ion-optical mirrors elongated linearly along a drift length, illustrative of prior art analysers, FIG. 1A in the X-Y plane, FIG. 1B in the X-Z plane.
(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a prior art multi-reflection mass spectrometer comprising two opposing mirrors comprising sectioned mirror electrodes and a third sectioned-electrode mirror in an orthogonal orientation.
(3) FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer being one embodiment of the present invention, comprising opposing ion-optical mirrors elongated parabolically along a drift length.
(4) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a section in the X-Z plane of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer comprising two preferred ion-mirrors of the present invention, together with ion rays and potential plots.
(5) FIG. 5 is a graph of the oscillation time, T plotted against the beam energy, , calculated for mirrors of the type illustrated in FIG. 4.
(6) FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer being one embodiment of the present invention, comprising opposing ion-optical mirrors elongated parabolically along a drift length and further comprising parabolically shaped compensation electrodes, some of them biased with a positive voltage. FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a section through the spectrometer of FIG. 6A. FIGS. 6C and 6D illustrate analogous embodiments with asymmetrical shapes of the mirrors.
(7) FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams of multi-reflection mass spectrometers being embodiments of the present invention, comprising opposing ion-optical mirrors elongated linearly along a drift length and arranged at an inclined angle to one another, further comprising compensation electrodes with concave (FIG. 7A) and convex (FIG. 7B) parabolic shape. FIG. 7C is a schematic diagram of further multi-reflection mass spectrometer being an embodiment of the present invention, comprising opposing ion-optical mirrors elongated linearly along a drift length and arranged parallel to one another, further comprising parabolic compensation electrodes.
(8) FIG. 8 is a graph of normalized time-of-flight offset versus normalized coordinate of the turning point related to the mass spectrometer depicted in FIGS. 7A and 7B.
(9) FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer being one embodiment of the present invention, comprising opposing ion-optical mirrors elongated linearly along a drift length and arranged at an inclined angle to one another, further comprising compensation electrodes.
(10) FIG. 10 shows principal characteristic functions related to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 9 with optimized time-of-flight aberrations.
(11) FIG. 11A is a schematic perspective view of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer according to the present invention similar to that depicted in FIG. 9, further comprising ion injection and detection means. FIG. 11B is a schematic diagram of the entrance end of the spectrometer of FIG. 11A. FIGS. 11C and 11D illustrate results of numerical simulation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B.
(12) FIGS. 12A and 12B are schematic sectional diagrams of the multi-reflection mass spectrometer of FIG. 11A showing two different means for injection and detection of ions in which ion injectors and ion detectors lie outside the X-Y plane of the spectrometer.
(13) FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of the present invention in the form of an electrostatic trap.
(14) FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of a composite mass spectrometer comprising four multi-reflection mass spectrometers of the present invention aligned so that the X-Y planes of each mass spectrometer are parallel and displaced from one another in a perpendicular direction Z.
(15) FIG. 15 depicts schematically an analysis system comprising a mass spectrometer of the present invention and, an ion injector comprising an ion trapping device upstream of the mass spectrometer, and a pulsed ion gate, a high energy collision cell and a time-of-flight analyser downstream of the mass spectrometer.
(16) FIG. 16 depicts schematically a multi-reflection mass spectrometer which is a further embodiment of the present invention, comprising five pairs of compensation electrodes and which may be used for mass analyses with increased repetition rate.
(17) FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer of the present invention further comprising a pulsed ion gate and a fragmentation cell in which ions are selected, fragmented and fragment ions are directed back into the multi-reflection mass spectrometer and subsequently detected. Multiple stages of fragmentation may be performed enabling MS.sup.n.
(18) FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer of the present invention illustrating alternative flight paths within the spectrometer.
(19) FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of a further example of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer of the present invention illustrating alternative flight paths within the spectrometer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(20) Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of the following examples and the accompanying figures.
(21) FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are schematic diagrams of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer comprising parallel ion-optical mirrors elongated linearly along a drift length, illustrative of prior art analysers. FIG. 1A shows the analyser in the X-Y plane and FIG. 1B shows the same analyser in the X-Z plane. Opposing ion-optical mirrors 11, 12 are elongated along a drift direction Y and are arranged parallel to one another. Ions are injected from ion injector 13 with angle to axis X and angular divergence , in the X-Y plane. Accordingly, three ion flight paths are depicted, 16, 17, 18. The ions travel into mirror 11 and are turned around to proceed out of mirror 11 and towards mirror 12, whereupon they are reflected in mirror 12 and proceed back to mirror 11 following a zigzag ion flight path, drifting relatively slowly in the drift direction Y. After multiple reflections in mirrors 11, 12 the ions reach a detector 14, upon which they impinge, and are detected. In some prior art analysers the ion injector and detector are located outside the volume bounded by the mirrors. FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of the multi-reflection mass spectrometer of FIG. 1A shown in section, i.e. in the X-Z plane, but with the ion flight paths 16, 17, 18, ion injector 13 and detector 14 omitted for clarity. Ion flight paths 16, 17, 18 illustrate the spreading of the ion beam as it progresses along the drift length in the case where there is no focusing in the drift direction. As previously described, various solutions including the provision of lenses in between the mirrors, periodic modulations in the mirror structures themselves and separate mirrors have been proposed to control beam divergence along the drift length. However it is advantageous to allow the ions to spread out as they travel along the drift length so as reduce space charge interactions, so long as they can be brought to some convergence where necessary to be fully detected.
(22) FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a prior art multi-reflection mass spectrometer. Sudakov proposed in WO2008/047891 an arrangement of two parallel gridless mirrors 21, 22 further comprising a third mirror 23 oriented perpendicularly to the opposing mirrors and located at the distal end of the opposing mirrors from the ion injector. Ions enter along flight path 24, and after travelling along the drift length are returned back along the drift length by reflection in the third mirror 23 and at the same time beam convergence is induced in the drift direction. Ions emerge along flight path 25. Ion mirror 23 is effectively built into the ends of both opposing mirrors 21, 22, and sections 26 are thereby formed in all three mirrors. The construction of the three mirrors is thereby complicated. The electrical potentials applied to the three mirrors must be distributed to the different sections. The more sections there are, the more complex the structure becomes but the more smoothly the electric field may be distributed in the region in which the ions travel. Nevertheless, the presence of the sections will induce higher electric fields in the regions adjacent gaps between the sections. These fields will be of greater magnitude the simpler the construction of the mirrors. Such electric fields tend to produce ion scattering, as previously described. Ions with higher velocities in the Y direction enter deeper into the third mirror 23 along the Y direction, as was illustrated in relation to FIG. 1A by ion flight paths 16, 17, 18. Accordingly ions with different Y velocities upon injection will cross different numbers of sections, as they proceed different distances into mirror 23. Different ions will thereby suffer different scattering forces and different amounts of scattering forces, producing ion beam aberrations.
(23) One object of the present invention is to provide an elongated opposing ion-mirror structure in which a smooth returning force is produced. FIG. 3 is schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer being one embodiment of the present invention, comprising opposing ion-optical mirrors 31, 32 elongated along a drift length Y and having the shapes of parabolas converging towards each other in the distal end from the ion injector 33. The injector 33 may be a conventional ion injector known in the art, examples of which will be given later. Ions are accelerated by the acceleration voltage V and injected into the multi-reflection mass spectrometer from ion injector 33, at an angle in the X-Y plane and with an angular divergence , in the same way as was described in relation to FIG. 1. Accordingly three ion flight paths 36, 37, 38 are representatively shown in FIG. 3. As already described, ions are reflected from one opposing mirror 31 to the other 32 a plurality of times whilst drifting along the drift direction away from the ion injector 33 so as to follow a generally zigzag paths within the mass spectrometer. The motion of ions along the drift direction is opposed by an electric field resulting from the non-constant distance of mirrors 31, 32 from each other along their lengths in the drift direction, and the said electric field causes the ions to reverse their direction and travel back towards the ion injector 33. Ion detector 34 is located in the vicinity of ion injector 33 and intercepts the ions. The ion paths 36, 37, 38 spread out along the drift length as they proceed from the ion injector due to the spread in angular divergence as previously described in relation to FIG. 1A, but upon returning to the vicinity of the ion injector 33, the ion paths 36, 37, 38 have advantageously converged again and may conveniently be detected by ion-sensitive surface of detector 34 which is oriented orthogonal to the X axis.
(24) The embodiment of FIG. 3 comprising opposing ion-optical mirrors 31, 32 is an example of the present invention in which parabolic elongation of both mirrors is utilized. As already noted, in embodiments of the present invention the elongation may be linear (i.e. the mirrors are straight, possibly positioned at an angle towards each other), or the elongation may be non-linear (i.e. comprising curved mirrors), the elongation shape of each mirror may be the same or it may be different and any direction of elongation curvature may be the same or may be different. The mirrors may become closer together along the whole of the drift length, or along only a portion of the drift length, e.g. only at a distal end of the drift length of the mirrors from the injector end.
(25) After a pair of reflections in mirrors 31 and 32, the inclination angle changes by the value =2(Y), where =L(Y) is convergence angle of the mirrors with the effective distance L(Y) between them. This angle change is equivalent to the inclination angle change on the 2L(0) flight distance in the effective returning potential .sub.m(Y)=2V[L(0)L(Y)]/L(0). Parabolic elongation L(Y)=L(0)AY.sup.2, where A is a positive coefficient, generates a quadratic distribution of the returning potential in which the ions advantageously take the same time to return to the point of their injection Y=0 independent of their initial drift velocity in the Y direction. The mirror convergence angle (Y) is advantageously small and doesn't affect the isochronous properties of mirrors 31, 32 in the X direction as will be described further in relation to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 3 is an example of one embodiment of the present invention in which both an extended flight path length and spatial focusing of ions in the drift (Y) direction is accomplished by use of non-parallel mirrors. This embodiment advantageously needs no additional components to both double the drift length and induce spatial focusingonly two opposing mirrors are utilised. The use of opposing ion-optical mirrors elongated generally along the drift direction Y such that the mirrors are not a constant distance from each other along at least a portion of their lengths in the drift direction has produced these advantageous properties and these properties are achieved by alternative embodiments in which the mirrors are elongated linearly, for example. In this particular embodiment the opposing mirrors are curved towards each other with parabolic profiles as they elongate away from one end of the spectrometer adjacent an ion injector and this particular geometry further advantageously causes the ions to take the same time to return to their point of injection independent of their initial drift velocity.
(26) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer comprising two preferred ion-mirrors 41, 42 of the present invention, together with ion rays 43, 44, 45, 46 and electrical potential distribution curves 49. Mirrors 41, 42 are shown in cross section, in the X-Z plane. Each mirror comprises a number of electrodes, and the electrode dimensions, positions and applied electrical voltages are optimized such that the oscillation time, T, of ions between the mirrors, is substantially independent of the ion energy, , in the interval .sub.0+/(/2), where .sub.0=qV is the reference energy defined by the acceleration voltage V and the ion charge q. The ion charge is hereafter assumed positive without loss of generality of the invention's applicability to both positive and negative ions. Electrical potential distribution curve 49 illustrates that each mirror has an accelerating region to achieve spatial focusing of ion trajectories in the X-Z plane parallel (43, 44) to point (45, 46) after a first reflection, and from point to parallel after a second reflection, providing ion motion stability in the X-Z plane. Ions experience the accelerating potential region of the mirror twice on each reflection: once on entry and once on exiting the mirror. As is known from prior art, this type of spatial focussing also helps to eliminate some time-of-flight aberrations with respect to positional and angular spreads in the Z direction.
(27) As known from the prior art, mirrors of this design can produce highly isochronous oscillation time periods for ions with energy spreads /.sub.0>10%. FIG. 5 is a graph of the oscillation time, T plotted against the beam energy, , calculated for mirrors of the type illustrated in FIG. 4. It can be seen that a highly isochronous oscillation time period is achieved for ions of 2000 eV+/100 eV. Gridless ion mirrors such as those illustrated in FIG. 4 could be implemented as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,385,187 or WO2009/081143 using flat electrodes that could be fabricated by well known technologies such as wire-erosion, electrochemical etching, jet-machining, electroforming, etc. They could be also implemented on printed circuit boards.
(28) FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer being one embodiment of the present invention, comprising opposing ion-optical mirrors elongated parabolically along a drift length, further comprising compensation electrodes. As a more technological implementation, parabolic shapes could be approximated by circular arcs (which could be then made on a turning machine). Compensation electrodes allow further advantages to be provided, in particular that of reducing time-of-flight aberrations. The embodiment of FIG. 6A is similar to that of FIG. 3, and similar considerations apply to the general ion motion from the injector 63 to the detector 64 the ions undergoing a plurality of oscillations 60 between mirrors 61, 62. Three pairs of compensation electrodes 65-1, 65-2 as one pair, 66-1, 66-2 as another pair and 67-1, 67-2 as a further pair, comprise extended surfaces in the X-Y plane facing the ion beam, the electrodes being displaced in +/Z from the ion beam flight path, i.e. each compensation electrode 65-1, 66-1, 67-1, 65-2, 66-2, 67-2 has a surface substantially parallel to the X-Y plane located either side of a space extending between the opposing mirrors as shown in FIG. 6B. FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram showing a section through the mass spectrometer of FIG. 6A. In use, the compensation electrodes 65 are electrically biased, both electrodes having voltage offset U(Y)>0 applied in case of positive ions and U(Y)<0 applied in case of negative ions. Hereafter we assume the case of positive ions for this and the other embodiments if not stated otherwise. Voltage offset U(Y) is, in some embodiments, a function of Y, i.e. the potential of the compensation plates varies along the drift length, but in this embodiment the voltage offset is constant. The electrodes 66, 67 are not biased and have zero voltage offset. The compensation electrodes 65, 66, 67 have, in this example, a complex shape, extending in X direction a varying amount as a function of Y, the width of biased electrodes 65 in the X direction being represented by function S(Y). The shapes of unbiased electrodes 66 and 67 are complementary to the shape of biased electrodes 65. The extent of the compensation electrodes in the X direction is, in some embodiments, a width that is constant along the drift length, but in this embodiment the width varies as a function of the position along the drift length. The functions S(Y) and U(Y) are chosen to minimize the most important time-of-flight aberrations, as will be further described.
(29) In use, the electrically biased compensation electrodes 65 generate potential distribution u(X,Y) in the plane of their symmetry Z=0, which is shown with schematic potential curve 69 in FIG. 6B. The potential distribution 69 is restricted spatially by the use of the unbiased compensation electrodes 66 and 67. The returning electric field E.sub.y=u/Y makes the same change of the trajectory inclination angle as the effective potential distribution .sub.ce(Y)=L(0).sup.1u(X,Y)dXU(Y)S(Y) averaged over the effective distance between the mirrors L(0). The last approximate equality holds if the separation between the compensation electrodes in Z-direction is sufficiently small. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the compensation electrodes are parabolic in shape, so that S=BY.sup.2, where B is a positive constant, and the voltage offset is constant U=constV sin.sup.2 <<V, where V is the accelerating voltage. (The accelerating voltage is with respect to the analyser reference potential.) Therefore, the set of compensation electrodes also generates a quadratic contribution to the effective returning potential, which, being additive with the same sign to the quadratic contribution of the parabolic mirrors, maintains the isochronous properties in drift direction. In embodiments with constant voltage offsets on biased compensation electrodes, the returning electric field E.sub.y is essentially non zero only near the edges of the compensation electrodes, which are non-parallel to the drift axis Y, and the ion trajectories thus undergo refraction every time they cross the edges.
(30) The time-of-flight aberration of the embodiment in FIG. 6A results from two factors: the mirror convergence and the time delay of ions whilst travelling in between the compensation electrodes. When summed up, these two factors give the oscillation time T(Y)=T(0)[L(Y)+S(Y)U/2V]/L(0) being a function of drift coordinate. In terms of components of the effective returning potential, T(Y)T(0)=T(0) [.sub.ce(Y).sub.m(Y)]/2V. The coefficients A and B which define the parabolic shapes of the mirrors 61, 62 and the compensation electrodes 65, 66, 67, correspondingly, are preferably chosen in certain proportions to make the components of the returning force equal .sub.ce(Y)=.sub.m(Y), so that the time per oscillation T(Y) is advantageously constant along the entire drift length and thus eliminates time-of-flight aberrations with respect to the initial angular spread. So, the decrease of the oscillation time at the position distant from the injection point due to the mirror convergence is completely compensated by decelerating the ions while travelling through the region between the compensating electrodes with increased electric potential. In this embodiment, both components of the effective potential contribute equally to the returning force that drives the ion beam back to the point of injection.
(31) The embodiment in FIGS. 6A and 6B can be generalized by introduction of a polynomial representation of the effective returning potential components .sub.m=(V sin.sup.2 ).sub.m and .sub.ce=(V sin.sup.2 ).sub.ce where .sub.m=m.sub.1y+m.sub.2y.sup.2 and .sub.ce=c.sub.0+c.sub.1y+c.sub.2y.sup.2+c.sub.3y.sup.3+c.sub.4y.sup.4 are dimensionless functions of dimensionless normalized drift coordinate y=Y/Y.sub.0*, and Y.sub.0* is the designated drift penetration depth of an ion with mean acceleration voltage V and mean injection angle . Therefore, the sum of coefficients m.sub.1+m.sub.2+c.sub.1+c.sub.2+c.sub.3+c.sub.4 equals to 1 by definition. Consider an ion which reaches its turning point in drift direction Y=Y.sub.0 that is a function of the ion's injection angle +defined by condition .sub.m(y.sub.0)+.sub.ce(y.sub.0)c.sub.0=sin.sup.2(+)/sin.sup.2 , where y.sub.0=Y.sub.0/Y.sub.0* is the normalized turning point coordinate. The return time taken for this ion to come back to the injection point Y=0 is proportional to integral
(32)
whilst the time-of-flight offset of the moment when an ion with given normalized turning point coordinate y.sub.0 impinges the detector's plane X=0 after a designated number of oscillations between the mirrors is proportional to integral
(33)
(34) The deviation of function (y.sub.0) from (1) thus determines the time-of-flight aberration with respect to the injection angle.
(35) Values of the coefficients m and c are to be found from the following conditions: (1) the integral is substantially constant (not necessarily zero) in the vicinity of y.sub.0=1, which corresponds to slow time-of-flight dependence on the injection angle in the interval /2, and (2) the integral has vanishing derivative (1) to ensure at least first-order spatial focusing of the ions on the detector. The embodiment represented schematically in FIG. 6A with parabolic mirrors and parabolic compensation electrodes corresponds to the values of coefficients m and c as in the first column in Table 1. Since the effective returning potential is quadratic, (y.sub.0)1 and the ion beam is ideally spatially focused onto the detector. At the same time, (y.sub.0)0 which corresponds to complete compensation of the time-of-flight aberration with respect to the injection angle. Alternative embodiments may compromise these ideal properties for the sake of mirror fabrication feasibility. A preferred embodiment comprising only straight mirrors elongated along the drift direction and tilted towards each other with a small convergence angle is a particular case, straight mirrors being more easily manufactured than curved mirrors (or even circular arcs). The embodiments with straight mirrors are characterized by linear dependence of the .sub.m component of the effective returning force, therefore the coefficients m.sub.1>0 and m.sub.2=0. Curved mirrors might be asymmetric as shown for example in FIG. 6C and FIG. 6D, with one mirror 62 being straight (FIG. 6C) or both mirrors may be curved in the same direction (FIG. 6D). In both cases, however, separation between the mirrors at the distal end is smaller than separation between the mirrors at the end next to the injector 63 and detector 64. These examples are only some of the possible mirror arrangements which may be utilised with the present invention.
(36) FIG. 7A is schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer being one embodiment of the present invention, comprising opposing straight ion-optical mirrors 71, 72 elongated along a drift length and tilted by small angle towards each other. The coefficients m and c are as presented in the second column in Table 1. The linear part of the total effective returning potential =.sub.m+.sub.ce is zero because m.sub.1=c.sub.1, and is a quadratic function of the drift coordinate (save for the inessential constant resulting from c.sub.0). Therefore exact spatial focusing of the ion beam 70 originating from injector 73, takes place on the detector 74. The value of coefficient c.sub.0 may be an arbitrary positive value greater than .sup.2/64 to make the width function S(Y) of positively biased (in the case of positively charged ions) compensation electrodes 75 strictly positive along the drift length. The narrowest part of the biased compensation electrodes 75 is located at the distance (/8)Y.sub.0* from the point of ion injection. Two pairs of unbiased compensation electrodes 76 and 77 have their shapes complementary with the shapes of electrodes 75 and. serve to terminate the electric field from the biased compensation electrodes 75.
(37) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Embodiments FIG. 6A FIG. 7A FIG. 7B FIGS. 9 Mirrors shape Parabolic Straight Straight Straight m.sub.1 0 /4 /4 1.211 m.sub.2 1/2 0 0 0 Com- shape Concave Concave Convex 4th-order pensation parabola parabola parabola polynomial electrodes Voltage U > 0 U > 0 U < 0 U < 0 offset (for positive ions c.sub.0 0 >.sup.2/64 </4 1 0 c.sub.1 0 /4 /4 4.111 c.sub.2 1/2 1 1 5.260 c.sub.3 0 0 0 1.217 c.sub.4 0 0 0 0.143
(38) FIG. 7B is schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer similar to that shown in FIG. 7A, with like components having like identifiers, but with negative offset U<0 on the biased compensating electrodes 75 (in case of positively charged ions). The choice of coefficient c.sub.0</41 makes the dimensionless function .sub.ce(y)<0 along the whole drift length, so that the electrode width S(Y) is strictly positive. In this embodiment, the biased compensating electrodes 75 have convex parabolic shapes with their widest parts located at the distance (/8)Y.sub.0* from the point of ion injection.
(39) The value of the mirror convergence angle is expressed through the coefficient m.sub.1=/4 with formula =m.sub.1L(0) sin.sup.2 /2Y.sub.0*. With the effective distance between the mirrors L(0) being comparable with the drift distance Y.sub.0* and the injection angle =50 mrad, the mirror convergence angle can be estimated as 1 mrad<<. Therefore, FIGS. 7A and 7B, FIG. 9, FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 13 and FIG. 15 show the mirror convergence angle, and other features, not to scale.
(40) FIG. 7C is a schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer similar to that shown in FIG. 7A, with like components having like identifiers, but with zero convergence angle, i.e. =0. This is an example of a mass spectrometer comprising two opposing ion-optical mirrors elongated generally along a drift direction (Y), each mirror opposing the other in an X direction and having a space therebetween, the X direction being orthogonal to Y, the mirrors being a constant distance from each other in the X direction along the whole of their lengths in the drift direction. In this embodiment, the opposing mirrors are straight and arranged parallel to each other. Compensation electrodes similar to those already described in relation to FIG. 6A extend along the drift direction adjacent the space between the mirrors, each electrode having a surface substantially parallel to the X-Y plane, and being located either side of the space extending between the opposing mirrors, the compensation electrodes being arranged and biased in use so as to produce an electric potential offset having a different extent in the X direction as a function of the distance along the drift length. The coefficient c.sub.2=1 for this embodiment, and the other coefficients m and c vanish. The biased compensation electrodes produce a quadratic distribution of the total effective returning potential (Y)=.sub.ce(Y), therefore, exact spatial focusing of the ion beam 70 originating from injector 73, takes place on the detector 74. The value of coefficient c.sub.0 may be an arbitrary positive value. Two additional pairs of unbiased compensation electrodes similar to electrodes 76 and 77, having their shapes complementary with the shape of biased compensation electrodes 75, serve to terminate the field from compensation electrodes 75. In this embodiment the compensation electrodes 75 are electrically biased to implement isochronous ion reflection in the drift direction; however, the time-of-flight aberrations with respect to the injection angle are not compensated.
(41) In a similar manner, a multi-reflection mass spectrometer similar to that shown in FIG. 7B may be formed, but once again with zero convergence angle, i.e. =0. In this embodiment, biased compensating electrodes have convex parabolic shape with negative offset U<0 applied to implement isochronous ion reflection in the drift direction.
(42) The embodiments in FIGS. 6A and 7A-7C possess ideal spatial focusing on the detector, which means that (y.sub.0)=const and, therefore, the return time in the drift direction is completely independent of the injection angle. The embodiments with linearly elongated mirrors in FIGS. 7A and 7B provide, however, only first-order compensation of the time-of-flight aberration. FIG. 8 shows normalized time-of-flight offset (y.sub.0) versus normalized coordinate of the turning point, which is the same for the embodiments in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The minimum of this function in the point y.sub.0=1, where =0.5 and =0, realizes only first-order compensation of the time-of-flight aberration with respect the injection angle , whilst the second derivative (1)>0, which makes the time-of-flight spread proportional to .sup.2.
(43) Ideal spatial focusing, however, can be compromised in order to achieve better compensation of the time-of-flight aberration, that is make the integral (y.sub.0) as constant as possible in the vicinity of y.sub.0=1 even in the case of linearly elongated mirrors. An embodiment in FIG. 9 comprises two straight ion mirrors 71, 72 elongated in drift direction and tilted towards each other, ion injector 73, ion detector 74, and three pairs of complex-shaped compensation electrodes 95, 96, 97. Coefficients c.sub.0-4 given in the fourth column in Table 1 define the forth-order polynomial .sub.ce which is negative along the entire drift length as shown in FIG. 10. The sum of the widths of biased compensation electrodes 95 and 96 is proportional to .sub.ce and these electrodes are biased negatively (in case of positively charged ions). The embodiment depicted in FIG. 9 thus comprises biased compensation electrodes separated in two parts 95 and 96 that are located next to the mirrors 71 and 72, which advantageously leaves more space for ion injector 73, ion detector 74, and other elements which can be placed between the mirror 71 and 72. The individual widths of compensation electrodes 95 and 96 may, in some embodiments, differ from each other, or may be equal as in the embodiment in FIG. 9. The widest part of the electrodes 95, 96 is located at the distance approximately 4.75Y.sub.m from the point of ion injection. Compensation electrodes 97 have their shapes complimentary to the shape of electrodes 95, 96 and are not biased.
(44) FIG. 10 shows dimensionless components of the effective returning potential in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9. Distribution of .sub.m(y) (trace 1) is a linear function of normalized drift coordinate, which corresponds to action of straight tilted ion mirrors. Distribution of .sub.s (trace 2) is negative along the whole drift length and can be realized with negatively biased compensating electrodes 95, 96 shown in FIG. 9. Trace 3 in FIG. 11 is the sum of said components .sub.m+.sub.s as function of y. It is noteworthy that the effective returning potential accelerates the ions in the drift direction whilst they travel approximately the first one third of the full drift length and only then decelerating starts. The effective returning potential distribution is proportional to trace 3 and ensures first-order independence of the return time on the normalized turning point coordinate y.sub.0 in the drift direction and, correspondingly, on the injection angle. This corresponds to vanishing first-order derivative (1)=0 of the function (y.sub.0) shown as trace 4. It should be noted that exact independence of the return time on the injection angle is not necessary. The condition to be satisfied is that the ion beam is focused onto a portion of detector which is less than the distance between the injection point and the point where the ion beam comes back to the plane X=0 after the first reflection in the mirror 71 in FIG. 9. This length is estimated as L(0) sin , and therefore non-ideality of spatial focusing imposes a lower limit on the injection angle and, correspondingly, an upper limit on the number of reflections. Eventually, the number of reflections should be no more than 62 for the relative injection angle spread /=20% in the embodiment of FIG. 9, which is quite advantageous. The maximum number of oscillations may be increased with the relative injection angle spread decreasing. Compromised spatial focusing onto the detector allows better compensation of the time-of-flight aberration in the embodiment in FIG. 9. Traces 5 and 6 in FIG. 10 show the function (y.sub.0) that reveals a wide plateau in the interval 0.9y.sub.01.1 which provides practically complete compensation of the time-of-flight aberration for at least /=20% relative injection angle spread.
(45) The drift length Y.sub.m* and injection angle should be chosen to define a designated number of full oscillations K=(1)Y.sub.m*/(2L(0)tan ) (each full oscillation comprises two reflections in the opposing mirrors) before the ions drift back to the point of their origin Y=0. The coefficient (1)=1 for the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 6A, 7A, 7B; and (1)=0.783 for the embodiment of FIG. 9 (which corresponds to the minimum of trace 4 in FIG. 10). The number of full oscillations K is preferably an integer. In order to increase K and, correspondingly, the total effective flight length, the reference incidence angle should be made as small as possible and the drift length Y.sub.m should be made as large as possible. The value of is practically restricted by the initial ion beam angular spread to keep the ratio / small enough (e.g. less than 20%), and the minimal separation L(0) sin between the ion trajectories on the first and second half-reflection required to physically accommodate the ion source and detector. The drift length Y.sub.m is limited in practical terms by the vacuum chamber dimensions, which are preferably less than 1 m in both X and Y directions to reduce the cost of vacuum chamber and pumping components.
(46) FIGS. 11A and 11B depict preferred injection and detection methods for the embodiment shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 11B shows only the entrance region of the embodiment of FIG. 11A. The embodiment in FIGS. 11A and 11B comprises elements of embodiment in FIG. 9, including mirrors 71, 72 and pairs of compensation electrodes 95,96, 97. Like elements have like identifiers. This embodiment further comprises RF storage multipole 111, deflector 114, and ion detector 117. Ions enter the storage multipole 111 in the plane of the FIG. 11B from the ion guide 113 (not shown in FIG. 11A) and are stored in it whilst at the same time losing their excessive energy (becoming thermalised) in collisions with a bath gas (preferably nitrogen) contained within the multipole 111. After a sufficient number of ions are accumulated, the RF is switched off as described in WO2008/081334 and a bipolar extraction voltage is applied to all or some electrodes of the storage multipole to eject the ions 112 towards mirror 72. For example, electrodes 111-1 are pulsed positively and/or electrodes 111-2 are pulsed negatively. Upon ejection the ions are accelerated by the acceleration voltage V, preferably in the range 5-30 kV.
(47) Alternatively, an orthogonal ion accelerator can be used to inject the ion beam into the mass spectrometer as described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,107 (Guilhaus and Dawson, 1992).
(48) Ion bunch 112 undergoes an extra reflection in mirror 72 (i.e. undergoes a non-integer number of full oscillations between mirrors 71, 72) which advantageously allows more space for the storage multipole 111. A system of lenses (not shown) can be used to conjugate emittance of the storage multipole and acceptance of the mass spectrometer. A diaphragm 115 preferably shapes the ion beam before injection to the mass spectrometer and prior to detection. Due to low time-of-flight aberrations with respect to initial ion spread in drift direction, ion extraction from a long length of the storage multipole 111 is possible, which advantageously reduces space-charge effects.
(49) The long axis of the storage multipole 111 lies in the plane of mass spectrometer but may be non-parallel to the drift axis Y and preferably constitutes angle /2 with this axis. After ejection from storage multipole 111 and upon acceleration, a substantially parallel beam of ions enter deflector 114 which turns trajectories 114 by a further angle /2 to constitute the designated injection angle (preferably 10-50 mrad). Deflector 114 may be implemented by any known means, e.g. as a pair of parallel electrodes 114-1 and 114-2, as shown in FIG. 11B, the electrodes being biased with bipolar voltage having potentials equally biased either side of the spectrometer potential. This injection scheme advantageously compensates the time-of-flight differences between ions which originated from different parts of the storage multipole 111. Ions 112-1 emerge during ejection from the storage multipole closer to mirror 72 than ions 112-2 that have same mass and charge, and thus ions 112-1 propagate ahead of the ions 112-2 before both groups of ions enter deflector 114. Inside the deflector, ions 112-1 are decelerated by the electric field of positively biased electrode 114-1. On the contrary, ions 112-2 enter the deflector 114 near negatively biased electrode 114-2 and, therefore, travel through the deflector faster. As results, both groups of ions enter mirror 72 substantially simultaneously. This ion injection scheme may be utilised with prior art mass spectrometers, being particularly suitable for elongated opposing mirror arrangements. This ion injection scheme does not depend upon the mirror inclination angle nor upon the presence of compensation electrodes and hence may be used with parallel mirror arrangements of the present invention and those of the prior art.
(50) As the ion beam approaches the distal end of mirrors 71, 72, the beam's angle of inclination in the X-Y plane gets progressively smaller until its sign is changed in the turning point (not shown) and the ion beam starts its return path towards detector 117. The ion beam width in the Y dimension reaches its maximum near the turning point and the trajectories of ions having undergone different numbers of oscillations overlap thus helping to average out space charge effects. The ions 116 come back to the detector 117 after designated integer number of full oscillations between mirrors 71 and 72. Diaphragm 115 may be used to limit the size of the beam in Y, if necessary. The sensitive surface of the detector 117 is preferably elongated in the drift direction parallel to the drift axis Y. Microchannel or microball plates as well as secondary electron multipliers could be used for detection. In addition, in a known manner post-acceleration (preferably by 5-15 kV) could be implemented prior to detection for better detection efficiency for high mass ions.
(51) Compensation electrodes 95, 96 comprise two parallel electrodes displaced from the X-Y plane in the +/Z directions (above and below the plane of ion motion). Compensation electrodes 95, 96 are provided with a voltage offset U (preferably of order of magnitude V sin.sup.2 ) and have their shapes defined by the fourth order polynomial with the coefficients c.sub.0 . . . c.sub.4 as described in relation to embodiments in FIG. 9. Compensation electrodes 95, 96, 97 could be implemented as a laser-cut metal plate supported by dielectrics, or a printed-circuit board (PCB) with appropriately shaped electrodes. More than one voltage could be used in the latter case. Preferably the compensation electrodes 95-1, 96-1, 97-1 are separated from compensation electrodes 95-2, 96-2, 97-2 by several times the maximum Z-height of the ion beam as it passes between the compensation electrodes, e.g. the compensation electrodes are separated by 20 mm and the maximum beam height in the Z dimension is 0.7 mm. This reduces the variation in electric field produced by the compensation electrodes over the beam height.
(52) The embodiment in FIGS. 11A and 11B was simulated numerically. The ions of mass/charge ratio m/z=200 a.m.u. are accumulated in the storage multipole 111 and stored along an axial length of 10 mm. Upon thermalization, the ions are extracted orthogonally to the multipole axis with electric field E.sub.01500V/mm and accelerated by the accelerating voltage V=5 kV. Upon acceleration, the ions enter the mirrors 72 with the spread of injection angles 0.01 rad which is completely due to the initial thermal velocity spread in the storage multipole. The principal or mean trajectory travels Y.sub.0*=0.6 m in the drift direction before being turned around to travel back towards the detector which is located in the region of the ion injector, during which K=25 full oscillations are performed between the opposing mirrors. The ion beam width in the drift direction increases from an initial width 10 mm up to 75 mm near the turning point thus significantly reducing the space-charge density in the beam. During the backward drift towards the detector 117, the ion beam is compressed almost down to its initial width.
(53) The optimal injection angle is =atan((1)Y.sub.0*/2KL(0))2.64 degrees, where L(0)0.64 m is the effective distance between the opposing mirrors in the vicinity of the ion injector. One half of this angle results from the inclination of the storage multipole 111, and the second half results from the deflection by deflector 112. The effective flight length is about (2K+1)L(0)32.6 m (including one extra reflection as shown in FIG. 11B) which is covered by the ions with mass/charge ratio m/z=200 a.m.u. during approximately T.sub.total=470 s. Time-of-flight separation of ions with different mass-to-charge ratios occurs during the flight length; and the signal from the detector carries, as a function of time, information about mass spectrum of the analysed ions.
(54) For the parameters as above, the optimal mirror inclination angle is =m.sub.1[L(0)/2Y.sub.0*] tan.sup.2 =0.0787 degrees, where m.sub.1=1.211 in agreement with column 4 of Table 1. Such an inclination angle corresponds to a mirror convergence by the amount of L=L(Y.sub.0*)L(0)=Y.sub.0*0.88 mm at the distal end of the drift region, and, in the absence of the compensation electrodes, the relative time-of-flight difference between two trajectories with the injection angles separated by /20% could be estimated as (/)L/L(0)310.sup.4 with corresponding resolving power limited to the value 0.5/310.sup.41600.
(55) The total width of the biased compensation electrodes 95 and 96 was chosen in agreement with present invention as a fourth-order polynomial S(y)=W[c.sub.1y+c.sub.2y.sup.2+c.sub.3y.sup.3+c.sub.4y.sup.4], where W=0.18 m, y=Y/Y.sub.0*, and coefficients c are as in column 4 of Table 1. The optimal voltage offset on the biased compensation electrodes 95 and 96 is U=L.sub.0V tan.sup.2 /W=37.8 V. In the presence of the biased compensation electrodes, the period of oscillation is not constant along the drift length but varies between approximately 18.495 us and 18.465 s. The properly chosen profile of the compensation electrodes makes, however, the first-order time of flight aberration T.sub.k/ to vanish after all K=25 oscillations are completed as shown in FIG. 11C (T.sub.k is here the time of particle arrival at the plane X=0 upon the k-th oscillation). The higher-order aberrations are also made sufficiently small.
(56) The complete set of third order aberrations with respect to three initial coordinates and three initial velocity components was calculated to estimate the resolving power of the mass spectrometer. The time-of-flight spread T of the ions with same mass and charge upon impinging the detector 117 is due to three major factors, simulated values of which are presented separately in FIG. 11D as functions of the extracting field E.sub.0. Trace 1 shows the turn-around time spread which is proportional to the thermal velocity spread of the stored ions in the multipole and is inversely proportional to E.sub.0. Trace 2 shows contribution from the mirror aberrations, which is proportional to the number of oscillations and linearly grows with the energy spread in the ion beam, which is, in its turn, proportional to E.sub.0. Trace 3 shows contribution of time-of-flight aberrations with respect to the spread of injection angles and positional spread along the storage multipole (E.sub.0-independent), and which is subject to minimization in the present invention. The total time-of-flight spread T defined as square root of the sum of squares of said contributions, is illustrated by Trace 4. As a function of E.sub.0, the total time-of-flight spread has a minimum T.sub.min1.3 ns at the optimal value of extracting field E.sub.01500 V/mm. The mass spectrometer's resolving power can be thus estimated as T.sub.total/2T.sub.min180 000. The biased compensation electrodes increase, therefore, the spectrometer's mass resolving power by factor 100.
(57) Both storage multipole 111 and detector 117 could be separated from the plane of symmetry of the mirrors (Z=0) and ions be directed into and out of this plane using known deflection means. FIGS. 12A and 12B are alternative variants of ion injection and detection for the embodiment in FIGS. 11A and 11B, like identifiers denote like elements. The ion injection means, comprising RF storage multipole 111 and deflector 114, generate ion bunch 122 inclined with respect to the X-Y plane of analyzer. Deflector 124 which comprises two electrodes 124-1 and 124-2 biased with a bipolar voltage, is positioned downstream in the plane of mass spectrometer and deflects the ions 122 towards mirror 71. Known time-of-flight aberrations are introduced upon deflection. Indeed, ions 121-1 undergo a longer path than ions 122-2 and are further decelerated in the vicinity of a positively biased deflection electrode 124-1. Therefore, ions 122-1 enter mirror 71 with a certain time delay with respect to ions 122-2; and the angular spread of the injected ions make the situation even more complicated. However, an advantageous property of the mirrors 71, 72 is to focus the ion beam from parallel to point (in the X-Z plane) after each reflection and change the signs of the coordinate Z and velocity component to opposite after each full oscillation that comprises two reflections as shown in FIG. 4.
(58) FIG. 12A illustrates the injection/detection method in case of an odd number of full oscillations between mirrors 71, 72. The value of Z and upon return to deflector 124 are opposite to those during injection, and deflector 124 introduces opposite time-of-flight shifts to each ion comprising the bunch. Therefore all ions with same mass and charge ejected from the storage multipole 111 arrive at the detector 117 also substantially simultaneously.
(59) FIG. 12B illustrates the injection/detection arrangement in the case of an even number of full oscillations between mirrors 71, 72. Extra deflector 125 is introduced in the X-Y plane of the mass spectrometer next to deflector 124. Deflector 125 is preferably identical to deflector 124 but has its electrodes biased in opposite polarity to incline the ion trajectories 123 at an angle equal but opposite to the angle of injection in the X-Z plane. With the number of full oscillations being even, the value of Z and upon return to deflector 125 are substantially the same as in deflector 124 upon injection, so that deflector 125 compensates for the time-of-flight aberrations introduced by deflector 124. The closer the deflectors 124 and 125 are situated to each other, the better the aberration compensation. Alternatively, if only a single deflector is used, the inclination of the ion beam towards the detector 117 is accomplished by means of deflector 124 but with voltage biasing of electrodes 124-1 and 124-1 switched to opposite polarity shortly after all ions of the mass range of interest are injected and have passed for a first time through deflector 124. The injection/detection variants in FIGS. 12A and 12B advantageously allow more space for the RF storage multipole 111 and detector 117, which is not limited by the electrodes comprising mirrors 71, 72.
(60) FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B illustrate how injection and detection may be advantageously arranged out of the X-Y plane occupied by the mass spectrometer. These and other arrangements may be utilised to direct beams into multi-reflection mass spectrometers of the present invention with both +X and X inclination angles. Ions may be injected into all embodiments of the mass spectrometer of the present invention with both +X and X inclination angles to proceed through the mass spectrometer at substantially the same time, thereby advantageously doubling the throughput of the spectrometer. This approach may also be utilised with multi-reflection mass spectrometers of the prior art.
(61) Embodiments of the invention such as those depicted schematically in FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B may be used with a subsequent ion processing means. Instead of proceeding to detector 117, ions may be extracted from or deflected out of the (first) multi-reflection mass spectrometer and proceed into a fragmentation cell, for example, whereupon after fragmentation, ions may be directed to another mass spectrometer, or back into the first multi-reflection mass spectrometer on the same or a different ion path. FIG. 17 is an example of this latter arrangement and will be further described.
(62) FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating one preferred embodiment of the present invention in the form of an electrostatic trap. The electrostatic trap comprises two multi-reflection mass spectrometers comprising two mass spectrometers 130-1 and 130-2, each similar to that already described in relation to FIG. 9, and like components are given like identifiers. In alternative embodiments, mass spectrometers 130-1 and 130-2 may be different though each having substantially equal injection angles . Mass spectrometers 130-1 and 130-2 are preferably identical as shown in FIG. 13, and the mass spectrometers are arranged end to end symmetrically about an X axis such that their respective drift directions are collinear, the multi-reflection mass spectrometers thereby defining a volume within which, in use, ions follow a closed path with isochronous properties in both the drift directions and in an ion flight direction. The electrostatic trap comprises four ion-optical mirrors 71, 72 and two sets of compensation electrodes 95, 96, 97. Ion injector, which comprises the storage multipole 111 and compensating deflector 114, injects a pulse of ions into the electrostatic trap preferably as described in relation to FIG. 12A by means of deflector 124. Deflector 124 is located in the mass spectrometers' plane of symmetry. Alternatively, the ion beam is injected in the plane of analyzers 130-1, 130-2 while the electrodes comprising mirrors 72 are biased with zero voltage offsets, and mirrors 72 are switched on after the all ions in the mass range of interest are injected.
(63) A bipolar voltage is initially applied to the pair of electrodes comprising deflector 124, is switched off after the highest-mass ions are deflected into the plane of symmetry and before the lightest-mass ions make a designated number of oscillations between mirrors 71-1 and 72-1 and return to the deflector 124. The ion beam proceeds to the mass spectrometer 130-2 and comes back to mass spectrometer 130-1 after a designated (preferably odd) number of oscillations between mirrors 71-2 and 72-2. The ion trajectories are thus spatially closed, and the ions are allowed to oscillate between the mass spectrometers 130-1, 130-2 repeatedly whilst no bipolar voltage is applied to deflector 124. A unipolar voltage offset could be also applied to electrodes 124 during ion motion in order to focus ion beam and sustain its stability.
(64) Four pairs of stripe-shaped electrodes 131, 132 are used for readout of the induced-current signal on every pass of the ions between the mirrors. The electrodes in each pair are symmetrically separated in the Z-direction and can be located in the planes of compensation electrodes 97 or closer to the ion beam. Electrode pairs 131 are connected to the direct input of a differential amplifier (not shown) and electrode pairs 132 are connected to the inverse input of the differential amplifier, thus providing differential induced-current signal, which advantageously reduces the noise. To obtain the mass spectrum, the induced-current signal is processed in known ways using the Fourier transform algorithms or specialized comb-sampling algorithm, as described by J. B. Greenwood at al. in Rev. Sci. Instr. 82, 043103 (2011).
(65) After a lapse of time, a bipolar voltage may be applied to the electrodes 124 to deflect the ions so that they are diverted from the electrostatic trap and impinge upon a detector 117 which may be a microchannel or microball plate, or a secondary electron multiplier, for example. Either one method of detection or both methods of detection (the induced-current signal from electrodes 131, 132 and the ion signal produced from ions impinging upon detector 117) could advantageously be employed on the same batch of ions.
(66) Multi-reflection mass spectrometers of the present invention may be advantageously arranged to form a composite mass spectrometer. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a section through one embodiment of a composite mass spectrometer comprising four multi-reflection mass spectrometers of the present invention aligned so that the X-Y planes of each mass spectrometer are parallel and displaced from one another in a perpendicular direction Z. Each multi-reflection mass spectrometer is of a similar type to that described in relation to FIG. 9, and like components have like identifiers. Pairs of straight mirrors 71, 72 are elongated in a drift direction Y orthogonal to the plane of drawing and converge at an angle (not shown), so that the closest ends of mirrors are the distal ones from the storage multipole 111 and ion detector 117. Mirrors 71-1, 72-1 and 71-3, 72-3 are elongated in positive direction of Y, whilst mirrors 71-2, 72-2 and 71-4, 72-4 are elongated in negative direction of Y. Therefore the ions which emerge from one mass spectrometer at angle , can enter the next mass spectrometer with no deflection in the X-Y plane. Each mass spectrometer also contains a set of compensation electrodes which are not shown for clarity.
(67) Ions 141 are injected from the RF storage multipole 111 and the time-of-flight aberrations are corrected with deflector 114 as described in relation to the embodiment of FIG. 11. Ions 141 pass between parallel deflector plates 142-1 which are supplied with a bi-polar voltage so as to deflect the ions into a first multi-reflection mass spectrometer parallel to the X-Y plane and with an appropriate ion injection angle in the X-Y plane. The ions are reflected from one mirror 71-1 to a second mirror 72-1 and progress along a drift length in the +Y direction and back as described in relation to embodiment of FIG. 9. Upon making a number of oscillations in the first mass spectrometer, the ions pass between pairs of parallel plate electrodes 143-1 and 142-2 which are both supplied with bi-polar voltages to cause the ions to deflect towards the second spectrometer and enter mirror 71-2 with an appropriate injection angle in the X-Y plane. The ions make a number of oscillations between mirrors 71-2 and 72-2 while drifting in a drift direction towards negative values of Y and back. The ions are in like manner passed from one multi-reflection mass spectrometer to the next, emerging from the last spectrometer to impinge upon detector 117. Advantageously in this embodiment the mirror electrodes and compensating electrodes may be shared between spectrometers. Compensation electrodes may, in alternative embodiments, also be shared between spectrometers.
(68) The number of full oscillations between mirrors 71 and 72 in each mass spectrometer is preferably odd, so that coordinate Z and velocity component of each ion change their signs to opposite between two consequent transitions from one mass spectrometer to another by a pair of deflectors 143 and 142. Therefore the time-of-flight aberrations introduced by one transition are substantially compensated in the course of the next transition.
(69) It will be appreciated that different numbers of multi-reflection mass spectrometers may be stacked one upon the other in this manner. Alternative arrangements may also be conceived in which some or all the multi-reflection mass spectrometers of the invention are located in the same X-Y plane, with ion-optical means to direct the ion beam from one spectrometer to another. All such composite mass spectrometers have the advantage of extended flight path lengths with only modest increases in volume.
(70) FIG. 15 depicts schematically an analysis system comprising a mass spectrometer of the present invention and, an ion injector comprising RF storage multipole 111, beam deflectors 114, 124 upstream of the mass spectrometer, and, a pulsed ion gate 152, a high energy collision cell 153, a time-of-flight analyser downstream of the mass spectrometer 155, and ion detector 156. In this embodiment, a multi-reflection mass spectrometer as described in relation to FIG. 9 is utilised for tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) as is, for example, described by Satoh et. al in J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 2007, 18, 1318. Like components to those in FIG. 9 have been given like identifiers. The embodiment comprises ion storage multipole 111 shifted from the plane of mass spectrometer in direction orthogonal to the plane of drawing as described in relation to FIG. 12A, and correcting deflectors 114 which operate as described in relation to FIGS. 11A, 11B, with like components having like identifiers. After making a designated number of oscillations between mirrors 71, 72 of the multi-reflection mass spectrometer, the mass-separated ion bunch 151 leaves the mass spectrometer and enters the pulsed ion gate 152 which is open for a short time interval to select a narrow (preferably a single isotope) mass range. The selected ions (precursor ions) are fragmented in collisions with molecules of neutral gas (preferably helium) in the gas-filled high-energy collision dissociation cell 153. The fragment ions 154 are analyzed in secondary time-of-flight analyser which contains isochronous ion mirror 155 (preferably gridless) and ion detector 156. The improved space-charge capacity of the primary mass analyzer makes it possible to select a sufficient number of precursor ions to be fragmented and further analyzed, even in the single-isotope mass selection mode. Downstream mass spectrometer 155 could be also implemented according to this invention, or ions could be re-directed back to the same primary mass spectrometer for analysis of fragments as described below.
(71) The option of adjustable flight length advantageously allows higher repetition rate of mass analysis, though at the expense of mass resolving power. In the mass spectrometer of this invention, however, one cannot change the number of oscillations K by simple adjustment of the compensation electrodes bias voltage and/or the injection angle without violating the previously set conditions for aberration compensation. If some loss in aberration compensation is acceptable however, the oscillation number may be changed over a limited range by said means. Based on dependencies between the principal geometrical parameters tan =(1)Y.sub.0*/2KL(0) and =m.sub.1[L(0)/2Y.sub.0*] tan.sup.2 which are necessary for substantial aberration compensation, the variation of the number of oscillations K under preserved effective mirror separation L(0) and tilt necessarily entails a change of the injection angle and the mean drift length Y.sub.0* in the following proportions: tan .sub.1/tan .sub.0=K.sub.1/K.sub.0 and Y.sub.1*/Y.sub.0*=(K.sub.1/K.sub.0).sup.2. A change of the injection angle in this specified proportion can be realized electrically by means of deflector 161, implemented by various known means and schematically represented by two parallel electrodes in FIG. 16, electrically biased, in use, with a bipolar voltage to deflect ions by equal angles =.sub.0.sub.1 before and after a designated number of reflections between mirrors 71 and 72. A change of the mean drift length in the specified proportions cannot be implemented, however, by electrical means only in all embodiments described above, because the shape of the compensation electrodes must be necessarily scaled in the drift direction. Compensation electrodes with split geometry, as shown in FIG. 16, can be used for this purpose in all embodiment of the present invention. Ion optical elements in FIG. 16, which are also shown in FIG. 9, have like identifiers. The biased pairs of compensation electrodes 95, 96 are split into two sections each, correspondingly 95-1, 95-2 and 96-1, 96-2, with an isolating gap between them. The shape of electrodes 95-1 and 96-1 is similar to the shape of whole electrodes 95, 96, correspondingly, but scaled in proportion Y.sub.1*/Y.sub.0* in the direction Y and, possibly, in the same or different proportion in the orthogonal direction X. In high mass resolution mode, the compensation electrodes 95-1, 95-2 are equally biased and the compensation electrodes 96-1, 96-2 are also equally biased to form an electric potential substantially similar to that generated by non-split biased compensation electrodes. In the low-resolution mode, only electrodes 95-1 and 96-1 are biased whilst electrodes 95-2 and 96-2 are held at the same potential as the unbiased compensation electrode 97. The reduced ion path 162 contains fewer oscillations between mirrors 71 and 72 than is the case in high mass resolution mode. Deflector 161 can also direct the ion beam from an ion source (not shown) to an ion detector (not shown), bypassing the mirrors as shown with dotted line 163, and this mode can be used for self-diagnostics.
(72) All embodiments presented above could be also used for multiple stages of mass analysis in so-called MS.sup.n mode, where a precursor is selected by an ion gating arrangement, fragmented, and a fragment of interest is then optionally selected again and the process is repeated. An example is shown in FIG. 17 where ions are deflected from their path by deflector 124 to the path that leads to the decelerator device 170, RF-only collision cell 171 and return path 172 to the injection device 111. Operation in MS.sup.n mode follows the scheme described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,829,842. Deceleration and reduction of energy spread could be implemented in a pulsed manner as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,858,929. Multiple injections could be added up into the collision cell as described e.g. in US patent application 2009166528. The return path to the injection device might include then a Y-joint 172 as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,829,850 or U.S. Pat. No. 7,952,070.
(73) Use of two different flight paths through the spectrometer, at opposite injection angles, has been described earlier in relation to FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B. In addition to these paths, different ion beam paths displaced from each other in the Z direction may also be used. FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of a multi-reflection mass spectrometer of the present invention illustrating alternative flight paths within the spectrometer. The spectrometer components of FIG. 18 may be similar to that depicted in FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B and like components have like identifiers. In FIG. 18, injection and detection may, for example, be as depicted in FIG. 12A, and multiple injectors and detectors may be used. Parallel injection paths 181-1, 181-2, 181-3 direct ions into the spectrometer whereupon ions directed along different ion injection paths may be deflected by deflectors (not shown), to follow paths 185-1, 185-2, 185-3. After multiple reflections between opposing ion-optical mirrors 71, 72, ions may be ejected upon different parallel ejection paths 187-1, 187-2, 187-3 to different detectors (not shown).
(74) FIG. 19 illustrates another embodiment of a multi-channel mass-spectrometer similar to that in FIG. 9 and like components have like identifiers. More than one injected ion beam shown as 191-1, 191-3, and 191-3 enter the mass spectrometer with different offsets along the drift direction being substantially parallel to each other. Upon the same number of oscillations between mirrors 71 and 72, the said ion beams emerge from the spectrometer as shown correspondingly with arrows 192-1, 192-2, and 192-3. The emerged ion beams do not overlap and are substantially parallel to each other and may be directed to different detectors (not shown).
(75) In the embodiments of FIG. 18 and FIG. 19, the different detectors may be similar to one another, or more preferably they may have different dynamic range capabilities. Different ion beams may be directed to different detectors so that intense ion beams reach suitable detectors which can detect them without overload. Staggered detection times facilitate the output of one detector regulating the gain of another. Diaphragms or other means may be used to ensure that only ions that have undergone a desired number of reflections exit the spectrometer and reach a detector. Different sized diaphragms located in the path of different detectors may be used to limit the extent of the ion beam.
(76) Multi-reflection mass spectrometers of the present invention are image-preserving and may be used for simultaneous imaging or for image rastering at a speed independent of the time of flight of ions through the spectrometer.
(77) In all embodiments of the present invention various known ion injectors may be used, such as an orthogonal accelerator, a linear ion trap, a combination of linear ion trap and orthogonal accelerator, an external storage trap such as is described in WO2008/081334 for example.
(78) All embodiments presented above could be also implemented not only as ultra-high resolution TOF instruments but also as low-cost mid-performance analysers. For example, if the ion energy and thus the voltages applied do not exceed few kilovolts, the entire assembly of mirrors and/or compensation electrodes could be implemented as a pair of printed-circuit boards (PCBs) arranged with their printed surfaces parallel to and facing each other, preferably flat and made of FR4 glass-filled epoxy or ceramics, spaced apart by metal spacers and aligned by dowels. PCBs may be glued or otherwise affixed to more resilient material (metal, glass, ceramics, polymer), thus making the system more rigid. Preferably, electrodes on each PCB are defined by laser-cut grooves that provide sufficient isolation against breakdown, whilst at the same time not significantly exposing the dielectric inside. Electrical connections are implemented via the rear surface which does not face the ion beam and may also integrate resistive voltage dividers or entire power supplies.
(79) For practical implementations the elongation of the mirrors in the drift direction Y should be minimised in order to reduce the complexity and cost of the design. This could be achieved by known means e.g. by compensating the fringing fields using end electrodes (preferably located at the distance of at least 2-3 times the height of mirror in Z-direction from the closest ion trajectory) or end-PCBs which mimic the potential distribution of infinitely elongated mirrors. In the former case, electrodes could use the same voltages as the mirror electrodes and might be implemented as flat plates of appropriate shape and attached to the mirror electrodes.
(80) As used herein, including in the claims, unless the context indicates otherwise, singular forms of the terms herein are to be construed as including the plural form and vice versa. For instance, unless the context indicates otherwise, a singular reference herein including in the claims, such as a or an means one or more.
(81) Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the words comprise, including, having and contain and variations of the words, for example comprising and comprises etc, mean including but not limited to and are not intended to (and do not) exclude other components.
(82) It will be appreciated that variations to the foregoing embodiments of the invention can be made while still falling within the scope of the invention. Each feature disclosed in this specification, unless stated otherwise, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose. Thus, unless stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
(83) The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (for instance, such as, for example and like language) provided herein, is intended merely to better illustrate the invention and does not indicate a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.
