Point collector, 440

The Fresnel lens concentrator, shown in Figure 1.36 top right, uses refraction rather than reflection to collect the solar energy. These units are molded out of inexpensive plastic and provide higher efficiency than the standard PV collectors. Point-focusing Fresnel lenses are also available. In Figure 1.36 bottom left, parabolic dish collectors are shown. Both the Fresnel lenses and these collectors can be rotated around two axes to continuously track the Sun. 

A point light source is imaged onto the specimen by the objective and the transmitted light collected by the collector lens and detected by a broad-area detector in the case of reflection microscopy, the objective lens also serves simultaneously as a collector (see figure Bl.18.10. The resolution is solely detennined by the objective lens, because the collector has no imaging fimction and only collects the transmitted light. The... 

A fuller description of the microchannel plate is presented in Chapter 30. Briefly, ions traveling down the flight tube of a TOF instrument are separated in time. As each m/z collection of ions arrives at the collector, it may be spread over a small area of space (Figure 27.3). Therefore, so as not to lose ions, rather than have a single-point ion collector, the collector is composed of an array of miniature electron multipliers (microchannels), which are all connected to one electrified plate, so, no matter where an ion of any one m/z value hits the front of the array, its arrival is recorded. The microchannel plate collector could be crudely compared to a satellite TV dish receiver in that radio waves of the same frequency but spread over an area are all collected and recorded at the same time of course, the multichannel plate records the arrival of ions not radio waves. 

Ion detectors can be separated into two classes those that detect the arrival of all ions sequentially at one point (point ion collector) and those that detect the arrival of all ions simultaneously along a plane (array collector). This chapter discusses point collectors (detectors), while Chapter 29 focuses on array collectors (detectors). 

All mass spectrometers analyze ions for their mass-to-charge ratios (m/z values) by separating the individual m/z values and then recording the numbers (abundance) of ions at each m/z value to give a mass spectrum. Quadrupoles allow ions of different m/z values to pass sequentially e.g., ions at m/z 100, 101, 102 will pass one after the other through the quadrupole assembly so that first m/z 100 is passed, then 101, then 102 (or vice versa), and so on. Therefore, the ion collector (or detector) at the end of the quadrupole assembly needs only to cover one point or focus for a whole spectrum to be scanned over a period of time (Figure 28.1a). This type of point detector records ion arrivals in a time domain, not a spatial one. 

Other types of mass spectrometer may use point, array, or both types of collector. The time-of-flight (TOF) instrument uses a special multichannel plate collector an ion trap can record ion arrivals either sequentially in time or all at once a Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) instrument can record ion arrivals in either time or frequency domains which are interconvertible (by the Fourier-transform technique). 

Three main types point ion collectors are in use for quadrupole, magnetic-sector, and TOF instruments, and they are discussed here. The multichannel plate collector (or time-to-digital converter)... 

An ion beam causes secondary electrons to be ejected from a metal surface. These secondaries can be measured as an electric current directly through a Faraday cup or indirectly after amplification, as with an electron multiplier or a scintillation device. These ion collectors are located at a fixed point in a mass spectrometer, and all ions are focused on that point — hence the name, point ion collector. In all cases, the resultant flow of an electric current is used to drive some form of recorder or is passed to an information storage device (data system). 

An ion beam containing just two types of ion of m/z values 100 and 101 dispersed in space on passing through a magnetic field. After dispersal, ions of individual m/z value 100 or lOI are focused at points close to the entries of two elements of an array collector. Each element of the array is a point ion collector. 

There are two common occasions when rapid measurement is preferable. The first is with ionization sources using laser desorption or radionuclides. A pulse of ions is produced in a very short interval of time, often of the order of a few nanoseconds. If the mass spectrometer takes 1 sec to attempt to scan the range of ions produced, then clearly there will be no ions left by the time the scan has completed more than a few nanoseconds (ion traps excluded). If a point ion detector were to be used for this type of pulsed ionization, then after the beginning of the scan no more ions would reach the collector because there would not be any left The array collector overcomes this difficulty by detecting the ions produced all at the same instant. 

An array ion collector (detector) consists of a large number of miniature electron multiplier elements arranged side by side along a plane. Point ion collectors gather and detect ions sequentially (all ions are focused at one point one after another), but array collectors gather and detect all ions simultaneously (all ions are focused onto the array elements at the same time). Array detectors are particularly useful for situations in which ionization occurs within a very short space of time, as with some ionization sources, or in which only trace quantities of a substance are available. For these very short time scales, only the array collector can measure a whole spectrum or part of a spectrum satisfactorily in the time available. 

In modem mass spectrometry, ion collectors (detectors) are generally based on the electron multiplier and can be separated into two classes those that detect the arrival of all ions sequentially at a point (a single-point ion collector) and those that detect the arrival of all ions simultaneously (an array or multipoint collector). This chapter compares the uses of single- and multipoint ion collectors. For more detailed discussions of their construction and operation, see Chapter 28, Point Ion Collectors (Detectors), and Chapter 29, Array Collectors (Detectors). In some forms of mass spectrometry, other methods of ion detection can be used, as with ion cyclotron instmments, but these are not considered here. 

Ions of different m/z values pass sequentially in time through the quadrupole mass filter to reach an in-line, single-point ion collector. 

By adjusting the magnetic field, the dispersed ion beam in Figure 30.2 can be moved up or down so that ions of specific m/z values can be focused at a point ion collector. 

Other types of mass spectrometer can use point, array, or both types of ion detection. Ion trap mass spectrometers can detect ions sequentially or simultaneously and in some cases, as with ion cyclotron resonance (ICR), may not use a formal electron multiplier type of ion collector at all the ions can be detected by their different electric field frequencies in flight. 

The major advantage of array detectors over point ion detectors lies in their ability to measure both a range of m/z values and the corresponding ion abundances all at one time, rather than sequentially. For example, suppose it takes 10 msec to measure one m/z value and the associated number of ions (abundance). To measure 100 such ions of different m/z values with a point ion detector would require 1000 msec (1 sec). For the array detector, the time is stiU only 10 msec because all the ions of different m/z values arrive at the collector at the same time. Therefore, when it is important to be able to measure a range of ion m/z values in a short space of time, the array detector is advantageous. 

A second use of arrays arises in the detection of trace components of material introduced into a mass spectrometer. For such very small quantities, it may well be that, by the time a scan has been carried out by a mass spectrometer with a point ion collector, the tiny amount of substance may have disappeared before the scan has been completed. An array collector overcomes this problem. Often, the problem of detecting trace amounts of a substance using a point ion collector is overcome by measuring not the whole mass spectrum but only one characteristic m/z value (single ion monitoring or single ion detection). However, unlike array detection, this single-ion detection method does not provide the whole spectrum, and an identification based on only one m/z value may well be open to misinterpretation and error. 

---