Ion Guide Potential Well Transport for Low-Heating Mass Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ion guide technologies face challenges in maintaining ion cooling during transportation, leading to ion loss and inefficiencies in mass analysis, particularly in high vacuum regions, due to abrupt electric field changes and inadequate cooling methods.
Innovation Solution
A device with a series of electrodes generating a smooth, constant electric field waveform to create a potential well that translates along the ion guide, ensuring continuous ion cooling and minimizing heating, using axially segmented bunching electrodes and radial confinement electrodes to maintain ions at thermal energy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If pulsed DC voltages are applied to segmented auxiliary electrodes for ion bunching, then ion bunching is achieved, but ions experience abrupt electric field changes causing heating and energy increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the voltage waveform parameters from pulsed DC to sinusoidal AC, and changes the electrode configuration from segmented auxiliary electrodes to continuous ring electrodes. This parameter change eliminates abrupt field changes while maintaining bunching capability through the time-varying nature of the sinusoidal voltage.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using DC voltages with abrupt transitions (the conventional approach), the patent inverts to using continuous AC voltages with smooth transitions. This inversion of the voltage type fundamentally eliminates the heating problem while achieving the same bunching objective.
2Reliability
If stacked ring guide structure is used for ion transport, then ion confinement is provided, but pseudo-potential ribs heat the transported ions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts or removes the problematic stacked ring guide structure with its pseudo-potential ribs from the system. Instead, it uses a smooth bore tube configuration that provides ion confinement through boundary effects without creating heating ribs, thus taking out the harmful element while retaining the beneficial confinement function.
3Productivity
If ions are transported in high vacuum region, then throughput is improved, but ion loss increases due to inadequate cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent ensures continuous cooling action by using buffer gas present throughout the transport channel. The sinusoidal voltage applied to the continuous ring electrodes creates a continuous time-varying electric field that maintains ion cooling throughout the entire transport duration, rather than having discrete or interrupted cooling zones.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for efficient ion bunching and transportation without significant heating, enabling higher throughput and reduced ion loss, even in low-pressure regions, thereby enhancing the performance of Time-of-Flight mass analyzers.
Implementation Method 1
A sinusoidal voltage is applied to continuous ring electrodes that form an ion guide to generate an electric field within a charged particle guide which defines a potential well
Implementation Method 2
the potential of said electric field having one or more local minima between local maxima defining a potential well which is translated along at least a part of the length of said channel
Implementation Method 3
A sinusoidal voltage is applied to continuous ring electrodes that form an ion guide to generate an electric field within a charged particle guide which defines a potential well
Data Source
AI summary
A device (1) for manipulating charged particles, the device comprising a series of electrodes (2, 3) that form a channel for transportation of the charged particles. A power supply unit (5, 6) provides a voltage to axially segmented bunching electrodes to create a potential well within the channel having one or more local minima between local maxima (50, 51). The well is translated along the channel. An axial extraction region (54) comprises electrodes defining an end of the channel. They receive a supply voltage to create a pseudo-potential within the channel such that the depth of the potential well varies according to the mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of the charged particles transported therein and reduces as a local maxima of the potential well is translated axially towards the axial extraction region thereby to release the transported charged particles of different mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) at different respective times.