Time-of-flight mass spectrometer

Abstract

A thin metal plate (113) and two rectangular rod-shaped metal members (112) that are parallel to each other are alternately superposed repeatedly, and thick metal plates (111) are disposed on both ends of the stack to sandwich the stack. Each surface which is in contact with another surface is bonded thereto by diffusion bonding to form an integrated multilayer structure (110). The multilayer structure (110) is cut at given intervals along planes perpendicular to the thin metal plates (113). Thus, a grid-shaped electrode (100) which has spaces, as openings (102), formed by thin metal plates (113) serving as blades (101) and by metal members (112) as spacers is obtained. With this configuration, it is possible to increase the thickness of the blades (101) to heighten the mechanical strength while keeping the width of the blades (101) and the distance therebetween small. Furthermore, leakage of an electric field from the flight space side to the ion acceleration region side can be inhibited, and the ions which are being introduced can hence be prevented from escaping from the ion acceleration region to the flight space side.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer, hereinafter referred to as "TOFMS"). grid electrodes. Background technique [0002] In TOFMS, ions derived from sample components are given constant kinetic energy to fly a fixed distance in space, the time required for the flight is measured, and the mass-to-charge ratio of the ions is obtained from the flight time. Therefore, when ions are accelerated to start flying, if there is a deviation in the position of the ion and the initial energy of the ion, the time of flight of the ion with the same mass-to-charge ratio will deviate, resulting in a decrease in mass resolution and mass accuracy. . As one of the methods for solving such problems, there is known orthogonal acceleration (also referred to as vertical acceleration, orthogonal traction) that accelerates ions in a direction perpendicular to the incident direction of the ion beam and sends the...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, in the method described in Patent Document 1, the number of grid-shaped electrodes is increased, so there are problems such as an increase in cost and a decrease in ion transmittance.

On the other hand, in the method described in Patent Document 2, it is necessary to additionally provide a switch for voltage switching, so there is a problem of cost increase.

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