Patent ID: 7709789

Claim:
A time-of-flight mass spectrometer comprising: a. a pulsed ion source that generates a pulse of ions from a sample to be analyzed; b. an ion lens positioned adjacent to the pulsed ion source, the ion lens focusing the pulse of ions into an ion beam; c. an ion deflector positioned in a path of the ion beam, the ion deflector deflecting the ion beam into a deflected ion beam path; d. an ion mirror that is positioned in the deflected ion beam path so that a plane of constant ion flight time is parallel to an input surface of the ion mirror, the ion mirror producing a reflected ion beam; and e. an ion detector that is positioned in a path of the reflected ion beam, wherein an input surface of the ion detector is substantially parallel to an exit plane of the ion mirror, the ion detector detecting a time-of-flight of ions from the pulsed ion source to the ion detector that is substantially independent of a path traveled.