The sTOF, a Favorable Geometry for a Time-of-Flight Analyzer.
A new geometry for the flight region in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer is presented. It consists of two opposing electrostatic sectors of about 255° each and straight sections with a length appropriate to the turns. The resulting geometry folds into a compact space. The first-order aberrations for position, angle, and energy are all zero. The transverse focusing properties are also excellent. For an energetic, high-divergence ion source such as laser ablation, the sTOF has higher resolution and ion transmission than a reflectron of similar physical size. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.
Chemical Sciences Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth System Research Laboratory, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80305, USA. daniel.m.murphy@noaa.gov.
Daniel M
DM
Murphy
Aerosol; Laser ionization; Time-of-flight