Patent ID: 9524859
Filing Date: 2016-12-20
CPC Classification: H01J

Claim Text:
1. A method for obtaining a mass spectrum, the method comprising: providing analyte ions from an electrospray tip in a pre-vacuum chamber having an orifice; operating a pulsed solenoid valve attached to the pre-vacuum chamber by opening and closing the orifice with a conductive tip of a poppet of the pulsed solenoid valve, thereby providing a pulsed analyte ion beam comprising pulses of analyte ions exiting the pre-vacuum chamber through the orifice and entering a high vacuum region containing a mass analyzer, wherein when the orifice is opened the pre-vacuum chamber is in fluid communication with the high vacuum region and the build up of electrical charges on the poppet and orifice are avoided; operating the mass analyzer to collect the analyte ions in the pulsed analyte ion beam and separate the analyte ions by their mass to charge ratio; detecting the separated analyte ions.