Patent ID: 8309911

Claim:
A method for filling an ion detector cell, the method comprising: transmitting a plurality of ions, initially trapped in a linear-geometry ion accumulator, from the ion accumulator to a shutter device by applying a first axial electric accelerating field across an axial length of the ion accumulator; transmitting the ions through the shutter device and into a linear-geometry ion guide by applying a second axial electric accelerating field across an axial length of the shutter device, wherein the second axial electric accelerating field is defined by a voltage difference between two electrodes spaced apart by the axial length of the shutter device, and the second axial electric accelerating field is applied at the same time as the first axial electric accelerating field; transmitting the ions through the ion guide and into an ion decelerator comprising a first electrode and a second electrode spaced from the first electrode by an axial length of the decelerator; decelerating at least some of the ions while transmitting the ions through the decelerator and into the ion detector cell by applying a first axial electric decelerating field across an axial length of the decelerator, wherein the first axial electric decelerating field is defined by a voltage difference between the first electrode and the second electrode; and decelerating at least some of the ions in the ion detector cell by applying a second axial electric decelerating field across an axial length of the ion detector cell.