title: Distance-of-flight mass spectrometry: a new paradigm for mass separation and detection.
abstract: Distance-of-flight mass spectrometry (DOFMS) offers the advantages of physical separation of ions, array detection of ions, focusing of initial ion energy, great simplicity, and a truly unlimited mass range. DOFMS instrumentation is similar to that of time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) and shares its ion-source versatility, batch analysis, and rapid spectral-generation rate. With constant-momentum ion acceleration and an ion mirror, there is a time at which ions of all mass-to-charge values are energy focused at their particular distances along the flight path. A pulsed field orthogonal to the flight path drives the ions to reach the detector array at this specific time. Results from a 0.29-m proof-of-principle instrument verify the theoretically predicted energy focus and demonstrate how the range of mass-to-charge values that impinge on the detector array can be readily changed. DOFMS could be combined sequentially with TOFMS to enable simultaneous scanless tandem mass spectrometry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-1096, USA. enke@unm.edu
authors.forename: Christie G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Enke
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Alexander W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: Elise A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Dennis
authors.forename: Gary M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Hieftje
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Carado
authors.forename: Charles J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Barinaga
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Koppenaal