Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer with Cassini Reflector

摘要

The invention relates to embodiments of high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometers with special reflectors. The invention provides for the time-of-flight mass spectrometers ideal energy and space angle focusing reflectors based on Cassini ion traps and proposes to form part of the flight path of the time-of-flight mass spectrometers as Cassini reflectors. It is particularly favorable to let this Cassini reflector in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer pass through relatively low-energy with kinetic energies of less than one or two kiloelectron volts. This results in addition to the flight time of the remaining routes a long mass dispersive duration, without increasing the energy dispersion, the angular spread or the time error of the ions each of a mass. Several Cassini reflectors can be placed one behind the other to extend the mass dispersive time of flight. Several time-of-flight mass spectrometers for axial as well as orthogonal ion injection with Cassini reflectors are presented.