Basic ms instrument Design

Basic MS Instrument Design

• Basic MS Instrument Design

• Atomic Mass Spectrometry involves the following steps:
• atomization
• conversion of atoms to ions
• most ions are single charge
• separation of ions based on mass-to-charge ratio (m/z)
• Counting the number of ions of each type or measuring the ion current
• Principal Components
• Vacuum system  maintain low pressure(10-5 to 10-8 torr)
• Inlet: introduce -amount of sample into ion source
• Ion source: sample converted into gaseous ion by bombardment with:
• Electrons
• Photons
• Ions
• Molecules
• Thermal/electric energy
• Positive/negative ions accelerated
• into mass analyzer
• Mass analyzer: disperse ions (m/z)
• Transducer: convert beam of ions to
• electrical signal