Patent ID: 7186972

Claim:
A time-of-flight mass analyzer comprising: an ionizer adapted to provide ions of a sample substance to be analyzed: a flight tube accepting ions provided from the ionizer, said flight tube adapted to constrain said ions to a substantially helical ion flight path using a generally static electric field, the flight tube comprising a first electrode having a generally cylindrical electrode surface facing an interior portion thereof, said first electrode further having an ion inlet disposed through a side thereof; a second electrode having a generally cylindrical electrode surface facing an exterior portion thereof, said second electrode being concentrically disposed with said first electrode, said second electrode further having an opening along an arcuate portion of the electrode surface in a region proximate said ion inlet; a third electrode having an arcuate electrode surface facing an exterior portion thereof, said third electrode being disposed in said arcuate opening of said second cylindrical electrode; and an ion detector disposed to detect ions exiting said flight tube; at least one timer adapted to determine the flight time of said ion along an ion path that comprises at least said substantially helical ion path.