Mks Instruments, Inc.

Jonathan Henry Palk

Ali Shajii

Xing Chen

William M Holber

John A Smith

Mark Attwood

Timothy Roger Robinson

Mark Philip Longson

James E Blessing

A system and methods are described for generating reagent ions and product ions for use in a mass spectrometry system. Applications for the system and method are also disclosed for detecting volatile organic compounds in trace concentrations. A microwave or high-frequency RF energy source ionizes particles of a reagent vapor to form reagent ions. The reagent ions enter a chamber, such as a drift chamber, to interact with a fluid sample. An electric field directs the reagent ions and facilitates an interaction with the fluid sample to form product ions. The reagent ions and product ions then exit the chamber under the influence of an electric field for detection by a mass spectrometer module. The system includes various control modules for setting values of system parameters and analysis modules for detection of mass and peak intensity values for ion species during spectrometry and faults within the system.

Chemical ionization reaction or proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry

A system and methods are described for generating reagent ions and product ions for use in a quadruple mass spectrometry system. A microwave or high-frequency RF energy source ionizes particles of a reagent vapor to form reagent ions. The reagent ions enter a chamber, such as a drift chamber, to interact with a fluid sample. An electric field directs the reagent ions and facilitates an interaction with the fluid sample to form product ions. The reagent ions and product ions then exit the chamber under the influence of an electric field for detection by a quadruple mass spectrometer module. The system includes various control modules for setting values of system parameters and analysis modules for detection of mass values for ion species during spectrometry and faults within the system.

Chemical ionization reaction or proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry with a quadrupole mass spectrometer

A system, components thereof, and methods are described for time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A microwave or high-frequency RF energy source is used to ionize a reagent vapor to form reagent ions. The reagent ions enter a chamber and interact with a fluid sample to form product ions. The reagent ions and product ions are directed to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer module for detection and determination of a mass value for the ions. The time-of-flight mass spectrometer module can include an optical system and an ion beam adjuster for focusing, interrupting, or altering a flow of reagent and product ions according to a specified pattern. The time-of-flight mass spectrometer module can include signal processing techniques to collect and analyze an acquired signal, for example, using statistical signal processing, such as maximum likelihood signal processing.

Chemical ionization reaction or proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer

A small, high performance quadrupole mass analyzer (QMA) that is simple to manufacture and assemble with high precision due to the design of key components using high precision circular geometries that are easily machined. The QMA has a single, cylindrical insulating retainer block, which supports at the four filter rods at their mid-points and precisely positions them in the conventional quadrupole configuration. The rods are held in the retainer block by radial fasteners that extend in radially from the outer diameter of the retainer block. These fasteners also constitute the electrical connection for each rod. The retainer block has precise outer diameter for alignment with the entrance and exit electrodes, each of which has a lip of matching precise inner diameter that fits over the outer diameter of the retainer block, thereby achieving virtually perfect coaxial alignment of these parts with one another. The entrance and exit electrodes each have a central aperture through which ions are focused along the central axis of the QMA. The precise coaxial alignment of the entrance and exit electrodes assures concentric positioning of their respective apertures with the central axis. The detector for collecting selected ions from the mass filter is positioned within, and shielded by, a cylindrical extension of the exit aperture. The QMA includes a hot filament ion source with special filaments mounted on a plate of special shape that fits into the end of the electron repeller cylinder thereby ensuring that a critically small gap between the filament supports and the electron repeller is not bridged.

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Sandbach, United Kingdom

Jonathan Henry Palk