Multi-path ion transmission device for mass spectrum and ion mobility spectrometer

Abstract

The invention discloses a multi-path ion transmission device for a mass spectrum and ion mobility spectrum instrument. The device is mainly applied to instruments such as ion mobility mass spectrometry and the like so as to realize effective transmission of ions in each group of parts and each stage of vacuum environment. The device comprises a connection fixing piece and an ion transmission assembly. The fixing part is used for fixing the ion transmission assembly, and the ion transmission assembly is used for assembling a circuit board forming an ion transmission channel. The circuit board comprises an ion gate, a traveling wave electrode, a direct current protection electrode and other components which are integrated on one circuit board, and when the ion gate is used, only the two circuit boards need to be placed in a mirror image mode and are installed through fixing pieces. According to the invention, the functions of multi-path ion transmission, shunting, guiding and the like can be realized, the required parts are few, the installation is simple, and the problems of system error amplification, troublesome disassembly and assembly, long maintenance time, high cost and the like of multi-part combination are greatly avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of mass spectrometry analysis, and in particular to a multi-path ion transmission device for mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry instruments. Background Art

[0002] Mass spectrometer is an advanced high-end analytical instrument with high sensitivity, strong specificity and wide application. Its main structure includes vacuum system, ion source, ion transmission device, mass analyzer and signal detection system, etc. It is widely used in many fields such as environment, food, medical treatment, medicine, life science, etc.

[0003] The basic principle of mass spectrometry is to ionize the sample to be tested through an ion source and then send it to the mass analyzer in the instrument for separation. Finally, the amplification circuit captures the ions and amplifies them into electrical signals. The signal analysis and reconstruction of the software is used to output the mass spectrum. Nowadays, ion sources that can continuously ionize samples at normal pressure, such as normal pressure electrospray sources and normal pressure laser sources, are very popular, but high-performance mass analyzers and signal amplifiers must operate in a high vacuum environment. Various ion transmission devices have emerged, including but not limited to quadrupoles, octopoles, ion funnels and other devices, without solving the problems of impurity introduction, ion loss, and ion flow interruption in the process of ionizing samples at normal pressure and injecting them into the mass analyzer. However, traditional mechanical devices have problems such as high processing cost, high precision requirements, large number of parts, and high maintenance and cleaning time costs. Especially when faced with problems such as multi-channel or multi-path ion separation, the instrument will be more complicated and difficult to solve. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a multi-path ion transmission device for mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry instruments. The multi-path ion transmission device of the present invention has a simple structure, is easy to disassemble and assemble, has a low manufacturing cost, is easy to maintain and replace, and can realize multi-path ion transmission guidance in a limited space.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention is as follows.

[0006] A multi-path ion transmission device for mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry instruments, comprising two mirror-symmetrical printed circuit boards, wherein the printed circuit boards are divided into two sides, one side is a wiring side for arranging circuit connections and routing, and the other side is a working side, on which planar electrodes are arranged to form an electric field after voltage is applied; The electrodes include a gate electrode, a transmission electrode array, a DC protection electrode and a grounding electrode. The gate electrode is arranged at the front and rear ends of the transmission electrode array, and the DC protection electrode is arranged at the left and right sides of the transmission electrode array. According to their functions, they are respectively an ion gate module, an ion transmission module, a DC protection module and a grounding module; wherein: Ion gate module, used to control the on and off of ion flow; An ion transport module, used to guide and push the ion flow to move in a given direction; DC protection module, used to restrict radial diffusion of ions and gather ions to reduce ion loss and divergence distance; A grounding module is used to ground the excess exposed part of the circuit board to release the charge and prevent the ions attached to the non-working area of ​​the circuit board from accumulating and forming charge accumulation; Based on the arrangement of electrodes, the printed circuit board is divided into a front-stage ion gate area, a peripheral protection area, an ion transmission area and a rear-stage ion gate area; in the working area where the front-stage gate circuit enters the two boards, a plurality of interconnected ion transmission modules are arranged, and ion gate modules are arranged in between to control the on and off of the ion transmission path, so as to control different ion gate switches as needed to guide ions to different ion transmission paths.

[0007] In the present invention, the electrode can be manufactured by using bare copper, immersion gold, tin-spraying and other printed circuit board processes or any other process that can realize the manufacture of electrodes on the surface of a circuit board.

[0008] In the present invention, a DC voltage is applied to the gate circuit module, the DC protection module, and the grounding module, and a DC voltage and a radio frequency voltage are applied to the ion transmission module.

[0009] In the present invention, through holes are opened at both ends of the circuit board, which are used to cooperate with the fixing piece to locate the position of the circuit board and fix the circuit board to prevent displacement and shaking.

[0010] In the present invention, the fixing piece has a mountain-shaped appearance.

[0011] In the present invention, the distance between two circuit boards is adjusted by changing the thickness of the middle wall of the fixing member or by adding a gasket.

[0012] Based on the above problems, such as the large number of parts, complex structure, time-consuming and high cost of disassembly, cleaning and maintenance, and only single-channel ion transmission in conventional ion funnel systems, the present invention designs a multi-channel ion transmission device based on printed circuit board technology. Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: Compared with the traditional ion funnel device without the design of stacked metal rings or the high-precision metal transmission rod combination required by the quadrupole and octupole, the device of the present invention eliminates the need for installation, removal and cleaning of a large number of components. At the same time, it can realize multi-path ion transmission and guidance, improve space utilization efficiency, and realize functions such as the separate guidance and output of ions of different time sequences. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a single-chip circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 2Schematic diagram of a fixing member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the assembly of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] The accompanying drawings in the figure are marked as follows: 1-working surface, 2-ground electrode, 3-gate electrode, 4-transmission electrode array, 5-DC protection electrode, 6-fixing hole, 7-turning gate electrode, 8-middle wall, 9-side wall, 10-circuit board fixing hole, 11-external fixing hole. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0018] The present invention provides a multi-channel ion transmission device for mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry instruments, wherein the ion transmission component is a printed circuit board with specific arrangement of electrodes and connection lines, the printed circuit board is made of Rogers board material, and other hard brush circuit board materials can also be used, the two sides of the circuit board are wiring surface and working surface 1 respectively, the wiring surface is to use the wiring inside the board to connect each group of different modules on the circuit board to form an effective circuit, and is used to arrange each line of wires and external power supply interface, and is used to realize the electrical connection in each functional module and the connection between the functional module and the functional module, and the functional module and the external circuit. When encountering complex circuits or additional requirements, multi-layer board technology can also be used for multi-layer wiring. ; The working surface 1 is used to form different pseudopotential fields after applying a given voltage to realize the functions of guiding, blocking, gathering, isolating ion flow, etc.; when working, the working surfaces 2 of the two circuit boards are opposite, and the two ends are clamped into the fixing parts and fixed with screws and nuts. After that, each line is connected to apply a given voltage, and the ions are released from the front ion gate into the gap between the two plates, and the ion transmission device can guide and transmit the ions.

[0019] There are multiple groups of electrodes drawn on the working surface 1, including multiple groups of module electrodes including gate electrode 3, transmission electrode array 4, DC protection electrode 5, and grounding electrode 2. According to their functions, they can be divided into: ion gate module, used to control the on and off of ion flow; ion transmission module, used to guide and promote the ion flow to move in a given direction; DC protection module, used to restrict the radial diffusion of ions and gather ions to reduce ion loss and divergence distance; grounding module, used to ground the excess exposed part of the circuit board to release the charge, and place the ions attached to the non-working area of ​​the circuit board to accumulate and form charge accumulation. The gate circuit module, DC protection module, and grounding module need to apply DC voltage, and the ion transmission module needs to apply DC voltage and radio frequency voltage. The specific voltage size and frequency need to be determined according to actual use requirements, such as the use of environmental pressure, the mass-to-charge ratio of the target ion, the required ion channel on and off frequency, and the transmission path. The working surface electrode can be made by bare copper process, or gold plating, tin plating and other processes.

[0020] In the working area between the two plates where the front-stage gate circuit enters, multiple interconnected ion transmission modules are arranged, and ion gate modules are used to control the on and off of the ion transmission paths. Different ion gate switches can be controlled as needed to guide ions to different ion transmission paths.

[0021] Through holes are opened at both ends of the circuit board, which are used to cooperate with the fixing parts to locate the position of the circuit board and fix the circuit board to prevent displacement and shaking. The fixing part has a mountain-shaped shape and two grooves for fixing the circuit board and connecting and fixing the whole part to other instruments and parts. The material is aluminum alloy, and other metal materials or polymer materials with qualified hardness can also be used. The fixing holes that run through both sides are opened on the fixing part groove, and there are threads on it, which are used to position and fix the circuit board. During assembly, after aligning the edge of the circuit board with the fixing part slot and putting it in, align the through holes on the edge of the circuit board with the fixing holes on the fixing part, use screws to pass the outer wall of the fixing part-nut-circuit board in sequence and tighten the nut to press the circuit board against the middle wall of the fixing part to complete the fixation. The other circuit board is fixed in the same way. In actual use, if the spacing between the two circuit boards needs to be adjusted, in addition to changing the thickness of the middle wall of the fixing part, screws can also be used to pass the outer wall of the fixing part-nut-circuit board-gasket in sequence, tighten the nut to press the circuit board against the middle wall of the fixing part to complete the fixation and adjust the spacing between the boards at the same time. Example 1

[0022] In an embodiment, a multi-channel ion transmission device for a mass spectrometer or an ion mobility spectrometer is provided, such as Figure 3 As shown, it is specifically composed of two printed circuit boards and two U-shaped fixing members. By applying a specific current to the circuit board, the ions input into the inter-plate gap of the circuit board can move forward along a given transmission electrode direction between the circuit boards.

[0023] Specifically, the device is Figure 3 The circuit board working surfaces 1 of the two circuit boards are placed face to face and mirrored in the two grooves of the fixing parts composed of the side walls 9 and the middle wall 8, and the fixing holes 6 of the circuit board and the circuit board positioning holes 10 of the fixing parts are aligned. Nuts are placed behind and screws are passed through in the way of circuit board fixing holes 10-nuts-fixing holes 6, and the nuts are tightened so that the circuit board working surface 1 is close to the middle wall 8 of the fixing parts. Finally, the external fixing holes 11 are used to fix them to the required positions of other instruments with screws to form a whole.

[0024] Figure 1The circuit board shown has a substrate 1 with various specific electrode arrays etched on one side. After applying a specific radio frequency signal and a direct current signal to the transmission electrode array 4, an ion transmission path can be formed to guide the ions to move along the transmission electrode direction. Applying a certain direct current voltage on the gate electrode 3 can be used to block / connect the ion transmission paths at both ends. The direct current protection electrode 5 can reduce the natural radial diffusion of ions in the ion channel around it after applying a direct current voltage. Applying a direct current voltage on the steering gate electrode 7 can selectively control the ions to advance along the specified ion path and finally transfer them to the next level device through the transmission device. Based on this, up to three paths of ions can be transmitted simultaneously between the two plates, or any combination of paths can be used to alternately transmit ions.

[0025] The above describes the specific embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make various changes or modifications within the scope of the claims, which does not affect the essence of the present invention. In the absence of conflict, the embodiments of the present application and the features in the embodiments can be arbitrarily coordinated with each other.

Claims

1. A multi-channel ion transmission device for mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry instruments, characterized in that: It includes two mirror-symmetrical printed circuit boards, the printed circuit boards are divided into two sides, one side is a wiring side for arranging circuit connections and routing, and the other side is a working side, on which planar electrodes are arranged to form an electric field after applying voltage; The electrodes include a gate electrode, a transmission electrode array, a DC protection electrode and a grounding electrode. The gate electrode is arranged at the front and rear ends of the transmission electrode array, and the DC protection electrode is arranged at the left and right sides of the transmission electrode array. According to their functions, they are respectively an ion gate module, an ion transmission module, a DC protection module and a grounding module; wherein: Ion gate module, used to control the on and off of ion flow; An ion transport module, used to guide and push the ion flow to move in a given direction; DC protection module, used to restrict radial diffusion of ions and gather ions to reduce ion loss and divergence distance; A grounding module is used to ground the excess exposed part of the circuit board to release the charge and prevent the ions attached to the non-working area of ​​the circuit board from accumulating and forming charge accumulation; Based on the arrangement of electrodes, the printed circuit board is divided into a front-stage ion gate area, a peripheral protection area, an ion transmission area and a rear-stage ion gate area; in the working area where the front-stage gate circuit enters the two boards, a plurality of interconnected ion transmission modules are arranged, and ion gate modules are arranged in between to control the on and off of the ion transmission path, so as to control different ion gate switches as needed to guide ions to different ion transmission paths.

2. The multi-path ion transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electrodes are made of immersion gold, tin plating or bare copper.

3. The multiplex ion transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A DC voltage is applied to the gate circuit module, the DC protection module, and the grounding module, and a DC voltage and a radio frequency voltage are applied to the ion transmission module.

4. The multiplex ion transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: Through holes are opened at both ends of the circuit board to cooperate with the fixing parts to locate the position of the circuit board and fix the circuit board to prevent displacement and shaking.

5. The multiplex ion transmission device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The fixing piece has a mountain shape.

6. The multiplex ion transmission device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The distance between the two circuit boards can be adjusted by changing the thickness of the middle wall of the fixing member or by adding a gasket.

Images