Patent ID: 6972408

Claim:
A mass spectrometer system comprising: a) an inlet system comprising an aerodynamic lens system for collimating particles of charged species into a beam wherein said aerodynamic lens system having a series of lenses of axially symmetric contractions and enlargements, a reverse jet for slowing said particles of charged species aerodynamically to near zero kinetic energy, and a multipole ion guide having end caps and is a variable frequency ion guide with a digitally produced potential, said multipole ion guide operating in a buffer gas to trap said particles of charged species at any mass-to-charge ratio and delivering said particles of charged species on demand, wherein said reverse jet sits in a vacuum chamber in line with the axis of said collimated beam of particles, said reverse jet coupled to said aerodynamic lens system and said multipole ion guide, said reverse jet being a gas flux generated in an annulus centered on said axis of said collimated beam of particles and propagating in the opposite direction of said beam of particles, said reverse jet having an opening through the center of said reverse jet wherein said collimated beam of particles delivered from said aerodynamic lens system passes through said center of said reverse jet wherein as said gas flux through said annulus is increased, the expansion from said annulus moves in a reverse direction forming said jet of gas in said reverse direction, wherein said gas flux through said reverse jet being adjustable to decrease the forward velocity of said beam of particles while permitting passage through the center of said annulus, said multipole ion guide coupled to said reverse jet within said vacuum chamber and in line with said axis of said collimated beam of particles, wherein the pressure in said vacuum chamber being adjustable to further slow and enable trapping of said particles in said multipole ion guide by application of a potential to said end caps of said multipole wherein said end cap potential is adjustable to permit on-demand delivery of the trapped charged particles; b) a digital ion trap that permits instantaneous changes in the trapping potential frequency so that any mass-to-charge ratio ion can be stored, excited or ejected; and c) a thermal vaporization/ionization detector system comprising a vaporization/ionization chamber for receiving said beam of charged particles, a vaporization means for thermally inducing vaporization and fragmentation of said charged particles housed within said vaporization/ionization chamber, an ionization means for ionizing the vapors from said charged particles housed within said vaporization/ionization chamber wherein said ionization means is normal to the axis of said beam of charged particles, and a detection component for detecting said charged species from the vaporized particles, wherein said ionization means is normal to the axis of said detection component.