Ion guide

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12112935-B2
Application number	US-202017613796-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 29, 2020
Priority date	May 31, 2019
Publication date	Oct 8, 2024
Grant date	Oct 8, 2024

Abstract

An ion guide or ion trap that comprises a plurality of electrodes ( 102 ) is disclosed. The ion guide or ion trap includes a detector ( 205 ) that can detect light or particles ( 114 ) emitted from the ion guide or ion trap due to electrical breakdown, and a control circuit ( 111 ) that can control the ion guide or ion trap in response to the detector ( 205 ) detecting light or particles ( 114 ) emitted from the ion guide or ion trap.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An ion guide and/or trap comprising:
a plurality of electrodes;
a detector configured to detect light or particles emitted from the ion guide and/or ion trap due to electrical breakdown; and
a control circuit configured to control the ion guide and/or ion trap in response to the detector detecting light or particles emitted from the ion guide and/or ion trap.

2. The ion guide and/or trap of claim 1 , comprising one or more voltage sources configured to apply one or more voltages to the plurality of electrodes;
wherein the control circuit is configured to control the ion guide and/or ion trap by controlling the one or more voltages applied to the plurality of electrodes.

3. An ion guide and/or trap comprising:
a plurality of electrodes;
one or more voltage sources configured to apply one or more voltages to the plurality of electrodes;
a detector configured to detect light in the vicinity of the electrodes; and
a control circuit configured to reduce, remove or turn off one or more of the one or more voltages in response to the detector detecting light in the vicinity of the electrodes.

4. The ion guide and/or trap of claim 2 , wherein the one or more voltage sources comprise an RF voltage source configured to apply an RF voltage to the electrodes; and
wherein the control circuit is configured to reduce, remove or turn off the RF voltage in response to the detector detecting light or particles.

5. The ion guide and/or trap of claim 1 , wherein the detector comprises a photodiode.

6. The ion guide and/or trap of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electrodes are arranged within a housing, and wherein an inner surface of the housing is reflective.

7. The ion guide and/or trap of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electrodes are arranged to form an ion guiding path having a length selected from the group consisting of: (i) ≥5 cm; (ii) ≥10 cm; (iii) ≥20 cm; (iv) ≥30 cm; (v) ≥40 cm; and (vi) ≥50 cm.

8. The ion guide and/or trap of claim 1 , wherein the ion guide and/or ion trap is configured such that ions have a residence time within the ion guide and/or ion trap selected from the group consisting of: (i) ≥50 ms; (ii) ≥100 ms; (iii) ≥200 ms; (iv) ≥300 ms; and (v) ≥400 ms.

9. The ion guide and/or trap of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electrodes are arranged to form a closed-loop ion guiding path.

10. An ion mobility separator comprising the ion guide and/or trap of claim 1 .

11. An analytical instrument comprising the ion guide and/or trap of claim 1 .

12. A method of operating an ion guide and/or trap comprising a plurality of electrodes, the method comprising:
detecting light or particles emitted from the ion guide and/or ion trap due to electrical breakdown; and
controlling the ion guide and/or trap in response to detecting light or particles emitted from the ion guide due and/or ion trap to electrical breakdown.

13. The method of claim 12 , comprising applying one or more voltages to the plurality of electrodes, and controlling the ion guide and/or trap by controlling the one or more voltages applied to the plurality of electrodes.

14. The method of claim 12 , comprising applying an RF voltage to the electrodes; and
reducing, removing or turning off the RF voltage in response to detecting light or particles emitted from the ion guide and/or ion trap.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the detector comprises a photodiode, and the method comprises detecting light emitted from the ion guide and/or trap using the photodiode.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of electrodes are arranged within a housing, and wherein an inner surface of the housing is reflective.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of electrodes are arranged to form an ion guiding path having a length selected from the group consisting of: (i) ≥5 cm; (ii) ≥10 cm; (iii) ≥20 cm; (iv) ≥30 cm; (v) ≥40 cm; and (vi) ≥50 cm.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising operating the ion guide and/or ion trap such that ions have a residence time within the ion guide and/or ion trap selected from the group consisting of: (i) ≥50 ms; (ii) ≥100 ms; (iii) ≥200 ms; (iv) ≥300 ms; and (v) ≥400 ms.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of electrodes are arranged to form a closed-loop ion guiding path.

20. A method of mass and/or ion mobility spectrometry comprising the method of claim 12 .

Assignees

• Micromass Ltd

Inventors

• Giles Kevin
• Ujma Jakub
• Harrison James
• Chande Bharat
• Scambler Graham

Classifications

• H01J49/025

  Detectors specially adapted to particle spectrometers (data acquisition H01J49/0036; detectors per se G01T, e.g. G01T1/28, G01T1/29) · CPC title

• H01J49/022

  Circuit arrangements, e.g. for generating deviation currents or voltages (regulating electric or magnetic variables in general, e.g. current, magnetic field G05F); Components associated with high voltage supply (high voltage supply per se H02M) · CPC title

• G01N27/622

  Ion mobility spectrometry · CPC title

• H01J49/42

  Stability-of-path spectrometers, e.g. monopole, quadrupole, multipole, farvitrons · CPC title

• H01J49/065 Primary

  having stacked electrodes, e.g. ring stack, plate stack · CPC title