MULTI-REFLECTING TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS ANALYSER AND A TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS SPECTROMETER INCLUDING THE MASS ANALYSER

摘要

A multi-reflecting TOF mass analyser has two parallel, gridless ion mirrors each having an elongated structure in a drift direction (Z). These ion mirrors provide a folded ion path formed by multiple reflections of ions in a flight direction (X), orthogonal to the drift direction (Z). The analyser also has a further gridless ion mirror for reflecting ions in the drift direction (Z). In operation ions are spatially separated according to mass-to-charge ratio due to their different flight times along the folded ion path and ions having substantially the same mass-to-charge ratio are subjected to energy focusing with respect to the flight and drift directions.