Patent ID: 6683299
Filing Date: 2004-01-27
Classification: H01J

Abstract:
An apparatus comprising:an ion source for repetitively generating ions; an ion extractor, fluidly coupled to said ion source and extracting said ions for time-of-flight measurement; a time-of-flight mass section fluidly coupled to and accepting ions from said ion extractor, a position sensitive ion detector fluidly coupled to said time-of-flight mass section to detect said ions, wherein said detector detects the location of the ions within the detector at the time of detection; a timing controller in electronic communication with said ion source and said ion extractor said timing controller tracking and controlling the time of activation of said ion source and activating said ion extractor according to a predetermined sequence; and, a data processing unit for analyzing and presenting data said data processing unit in electronic communication with said ion source, said ion extractor, and said position sensitive ion detector, wherein said data processing unit analyzes the time characteristics of said fast processes from said ion impact location, the time from the step of tracking, and the time of activation of said extractor.