Enabling Isotope Ratio Measurements on an Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer.

For portable, remotely operated systems in space and defense, relaxed vacuum requirements are a strong advantage of ion trap mass analyzers. However, ion traps are believed to have insufficient capability for isotope ratio measurement because they fundamentally restrict sampling capacity. Focusing on modifications to the detection sequence of a digitally driven 3D quadrupole ion trap, operating in resonance ejection mode, we investigated improved performance for isotope ratio precision and accuracy.

Ion-Trap-Performance Enhancement Utilizing Pulsed Buffer-Gas Introduction.

A novel means of improving the resolution and total ion signal inside a digitally driven 3D quadrupole ion trap has been studied. Conventional ion-trapping methods occur by injecting helium gas continuously into the trap to kinetically cool ions and improve trapping efficiency. Utilizing a pulsed helium introduction allows for trapping aided by collisional cooling while mitigating ion losses due to gas collisions during ion scan-out.