Multichannel plate array

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. 

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). 

The microtiter plate array format involves immobilizing carbohydrates in wells of 96-, 384-, or 1536-well microtiter plates (see Fig. la). Each carbohydrate component is spatially separated from other components within the plate. Two of the primary advantages of a microtiter plate format are cost and simplicity. Carbohydrates can be distributed into wells using multichannel pipettors, and assay results can be measured using standard plate readers. Thus, the equipment and supplies needed for the array are relatively inexpensive and common. However, microtiter plates generally require larger amounts of each carbohydrate and can accommodate a smaller total number of components per support unit. 

Electron Multiplier Photo multiplier Faraday Cap Array Detectors Multichannel Plate... 

Figure C3.1.5. Schematic diagram of an intensifier-gated optical multichannel analyser (OMA) detector. The detector consists of a microchannel plate (MCP) image intensifier followed by a 1024-channel Reticon photodiode array. Light dispersed across the semitransparent photocathode ejects photoelectrons. These are accelerated toward the entrance of the microchannels by the gate pulse. The photoelectrons collide with the channel walls to produce secondary electrons, which are accelerated in turn by the MCP bias voltage to produce further collisions and electron multiplication. Electrons leaving the microchannels are further accelerated by the phosphor bias voltage.

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