Bruker Scientific LLC

Felician Muntean

Melvin Andrew Park

Mark Ridgeway

Stephen Zanon

Anil Mavanur

Urs Steiner

Jens BOßMEYER

Desmond Kaplan

Mel Park

A gas retaining ion guide has RF electrodes distributed about an ion region that provide an RF confinement field for ions therein. DC electrodes are also provided that extend from an entrance of the ion guide to an exit, and provide a DC electric field. The DC electrodes are further from the central axis than the RF electrodes, and each provides a gas seal between two adjacent RF electrodes. Conductive surfaces of the DC electrodes establish the DC electric field through gaps between adjacent RF electrodes, and the conductive surfaces have a distance from the central axis that changes over the length of the ion guide so as to provide an axial DC field component. The size of the DC electrode conductive surfaces and a width of the gaps between RF electrodes may be selected to ensure that ions escaping confinement through the gaps are discharged on the conductive surfaces.

Gas retaining ion guide with axial acceleration

The invention relates to the generation of desolvated ions by electrospraying to be investigated analytically, e.g. according to the charge-related mass m/z and/or ion mobility. The cloud of highly charged droplets drawn from the spray capillary by a high voltage is usually focused and stabilized by a beam of nebulizing gas surrounding the cloud of tiny droplets. For a fast drying of the droplets, an additional desolvation gas is usually heated to a temperature of up to several hundred degrees centigrade and blown into the cloud of droplets. The invention particularly relates to the heating of the gas which is instrumental in the generation of desolvated ions as part of the electrospraying process without any mechanical or electrical contact between the heating power supply and the heater itself, but rather by heating the heater for the gas using electromagnetic induction.

Electrospray ion source for spectrometry using inductively heated gas

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Andover, MA, United States of America

Felician Muntean