Patent ID: 8212206

Claim:
A method for carrying out mass spectroscopic analysis of a sample comprising the steps of: a) providing a sample to be analyzed within a mass spectrometer; b) querying a user via an interface device to select one of a plurality of processes for generating a voltage waveform to be utilized to control ions of the sample according to their mass-to-charge ratio, the querying step having a plurality of selectable choices including: i. selecting a manual input of discrete data values defining a voltage waveform; or ii. selecting a manual input of an equation defining a function from which discrete data values are generated to define a voltage waveform; c) receiving an input on the basis of the selection carried out in the querying step; d) providing the received input to a data processing element which converts either the user input discrete data values or the discrete data values resulting from the user input equation to digital discrete data for driving a waveform generator; e) generating a first set of digital discrete data; f) converting the first set of digital discrete data to an analog signal using a conversion circuit; g) generating a voltage waveform to be utilized to control the ions of the sample according to their mass-to-charge ratio; and h) applying the generated voltage waveform to an electrode in the mass spectrometer to control motion of the ions of the sample.