Patent ID: 8791408

Claim:
A method of producing mass spectrum data using a mass spectrometer having an ion source and an ion detector, wherein the method includes: acquiring signal mass spectrum data representative of the mass/charge ratio of ions of sample material based on the output of the ion detector during at least one signal acquisition cycle in which ions of sample material generated by the ion source are detected by the ion detector; acquiring noise mass spectrum data representative of noise in the mass spectrometer based on the output of the ion detector during at least one noise acquisition cycle in which the ion detector does not detect any ions from the ion source; and subtracting the noise mass spectrum data representative of noise in the mass spectrometer from the signal mass spectrum data to produce modified signal mass spectrum data representative of the mass/charge ratio of ions of the sample material, wherein the or each noise acquisition cycle and the or each signal acquisition cycle respectively includes one or more of the following: producing one or more high voltage pulses; supplying one or more high voltage pulses to one or more components of the mass spectrometer; and operating one or more motors of the mass spectrometer, and wherein subtracting the noise mass spectrum data from the signal mass spectrum data includes subtracting an amplitude of each mass/charge ratio bin of the noise mass spectrum data from a corresponding mass/charge ratio bin of the signal mass spectrum data.