Mass quadrupole filter

B1.7.4 QUADRUPOLE MASS FILTERS, QUADRUPOLE ION TRAPS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS... 

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

Each type of mass spectrometer has its associated advantages and disadvantages. Quadrupole-based systems offer a fairly simple ion optics design that provides a certain degree of flexibility with respect to instrument configuration. For example, quadrupole mass filters are often found in hybrid systems, that is, coupled with another surface analytical method, such as electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis or scanning Auger spectroscopy. 

To minimize surface damage, static SIMS mass spectrometers should be as efficient as possible for detecting the total yield of secondary ions from a surface. Also, to be able to separate elemental from molecular species, and molecular species from each other, the mass resolution usually given as the mass m divided by the separable mass Am, should be very high. With this in mind, two types of mass spectrometer have been used - in early work mainly quadrupole mass filters and, more recently, time-of-flight mass spectrometers. 

In mass spectrometers, ions are analysed according to the ml7. (mass-to-charge) value and not to the mass. While there are many possible combinations of technologies associated with a mass-spectrometry experiment, relatively few forms of mass analysis predominate. They include linear multipoles, such as the quadrupole mass filter, time-of-flight mass spectrometry, ion trapping forms of mass spectrometry, including the quadrupole ion trap and Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron resonance, and sector mass spectrometry. Hybrid instruments intend to combine the strengths of the component analysers. 

B magnetic sector E = electric sector Q = quadrupole mass filter ToF = time-of-flight mass spectrometer IT = ion trap FTICR = Fourier-transform ion-cyclotron resonance. 

The quadrupole mass filter is the most abundant mass analyser today and RF-only multipoles are used as transmission devices/collision regions in various instrumental configurations. The mass filter is used extensively as a stand-alone mass analyser and as an analyser in multistage mass spectrometers. 

ToFs can also be used in combination with other mass analysers. Both hybrid sector and quadrupole systems are available. oaToF-MS has been interfaced to a quadrupole mass filter and hexapole gas collision cell, such as to allow recording of mass spectra and product ion spectra with good mass resolution (ca. 10000), high sensitivity, high mass range (ca. 10 000 Da) and high mass accuracy (<5ppm) [177,178]. QqToFMS may be fitted with API sources with flow-rates from nL... 

Q Quadrupole mass filter SAXS Small-angle X-ray scattering... 

Figure 4.5. Longitudinal section through a quadrupole mass filter (showing two of the four rods), illustrating stable and unstable ion trajectories.

Undoubtedly, the technique most suited to tackle polyatomic multichannel reactions is the crossed molecular beam (CMB) scattering technique with mass spectrometric detection and time-of-flight (TOF) analysis. This technique, based on universal electron-impact (El) ionization coupled with a quadrupole mass filter for mass selection, has been central in the investigation of the dynamics of bimolecular reactions during the past 35 years.1,9-11 El ionization affords, in principle, a universal detection method for all possible reaction products of even a complex reaction exhibiting multiple reaction pathways. Although the technique is not usually able to provide state-resolved information, especially on a polyatomic... 

A further gain in sensitivity (by about another factor of three) will still be possible in the future by installing a larger quadrupole mass filter (see, for instance, Refs. 37-40). 

The ion trap is one of the most recently introduced analyzers. It is strictly related to the quadrupole mass filter and it uses the same forces of the quadrupole analyzer, i.e. electric... 

Figure 2.15. Schematic of a quadrupole analyzer, (a) A hyperbolic cross-section (b) cross-section of cylindrical rods (c) the operating principle of a quadrupole mass filter. The x-direction pair of rods acts like a high pass filter so ion C (with low m/z) is not allowed through, and the y-direction pair of rods acts like a low pass filter and takes care of ion A (with high m/z). Only ion B having an m/z in the stable range is allowed through the quadrupole mass filter for subsequent detection. Reprinted from A. Westman-Brinkmalm and G. Brinkmalm (2002). In Mass Spectrometry and Hyphenated Techniques in Neuropeptide Research, J. Silberring and R. Ekman (eds.) New York John Wiley Sons, 47-105. With permission of John Wiley Sons, Inc.

Principle. The cylindrical quadrupole ion trap is based on the same principle as the quadrupole mass filter, but the geometry is different (Fig. 2.16). The cylindrical QIT, or Paul trap, was developed almost simultaneously with the quadrupole mass filter [232, 233]. Recently, a variant of the theme has emerged, the linear quadrupole ion trap [236], which is a device built like a quadrupole mass filter with extra trapping end electrodes for the axial direction. Under stable conditions, ions moving around inside such traps will ideally continue to do that forever. 

Quadrupole mass filter 0.7 m/z full width half height... 

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