The best mode for implementing a tandem mass spectrometry system according to the present invention is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the invention is not limited thereby.
Referring to
The enclosure 25 is a vacuum vessel that houses the first mass spectrometer 11, first electrode 12, second electrode 13, third electrode 14, fourth electrode 15, ion guide 16, fragmentation device 17, and second mass spectrometer 18. The inside of the vacuum vessel is evacuated to a high degree of vacuum by evacuation means (not shown).
For example, a magnetic mass spectrometer is used as the first mass spectrometer 11. A time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) can also be used as the first mass spectrometer 11. With the magnetic mass spectrometer, the sample is ionized in the ion source. The resulting precursor ions are accelerated with a constant acceleration voltage Va. At this time, the velocity v acquired by the precursor ions is given by
where Z is the valence of the precursor ions, M is the mass, and e is the elementary electric charge.
Then, the precursor ions having velocity v are introduced into a space having a uniform magnetic flux density B from a direction perpendicular to the magnetic flux density B. At this time, the precursor ions make a rotary motion with a radius rm inversely proportional to the velocity v. The relationship between the radius rm and the velocity v is given by
From the above equation, the mass-to-charge ratio M/Z of the precursor ions is given by
If the first mass spectrometer 11 is so designed that it extracts only precursor ions flying with radius rm, the first mass spectrometer 11 makes a scan in which the magnitude of the magnetic flux density B is varied. The spectrometer 11 acquires precursor ions having different M/Z in succession to obtain a mass spectrum. When certain precursor ions are separated and extracted, the magnitude of the magnetic flux density B is kept fixed. The certain precursor ions are ejected from the exit port 3 of the first mass spectrometer 11. The precursor ions acquire kinetic energies of several to tens of keV from the flight. The kinetic energies range from about 10 to 100 eV.
The first electrode 12, second electrode 13, third electrode 14, fourth electrode 15, power supply portion 19, and variable power supply portions 20, 21 together form means for decelerating the precursor ions. The decelerating means decelerates the ion beam 1 exiting from the first mass spectrometer 11.
The first through third electrodes 12-14 consist, for example, of meshy planar conductor patterns disposed parallel to each other. The ion beam 1 emitted from the first mass spectrometer 11 is transmitted through the meshy planar conductor patterns. Cross sections of the meshy planar conductor patterns are indicated by the dotted lines in
The power supply portion 19 and the variable power supply portion 20 are connected with the first through third electrodes 12-14 to produce an electric field for decelerating the precursor ions in the direction of deceleration that is coincident with the x-axis direction. In
A decelerating electric field for decelerating positive ions having velocity v is produced between the first electrode 12 and the second electrode 13 in the direction of deceleration coincident with the x-axis direction. Also, a decelerating electric field for decelerating positive ions is produced between the second electrode 13 and the third electrode 14 in the direction of deceleration coincident with the x-axis direction. The voltage applied between the first electrode 12 and the second electrode 13 is about 10 kV. The voltage applied between the second electrode 13 and the third electrode 14 is on the order of hundreds of volts.
The direction of departure of the ion beam 1 exiting from the first mass spectrometer 11 is tilted at a slight angle of about 2°, for example, to the x-axis direction coincident with the direction of the electric field produced among the first electrode 12 through third electrode 14. As a result, the kinetic energies possessed by the precursor ions in the x-axis direction range approximately from 10 to 100 eV, while the kinetic energies in the y-axis direction are in a narrow range from about 1 to 10 eV.
The power-supply output voltage from the variable power supply portion 20 is variable from about 0 V to hundreds of volts.
The fourth electrode 15 is made, for example, of an annular electrode plate centrally provided with a hole permitting passage of precursor ions. The fourth electrode 15 is spaced a given distance from the second electrode 13 and third electrode 14 in the y-axis direction. The position of the hole in the electrode plate in the x-axis direction is set equal to the midpoint between the second electrode 13 and third electrode 14 in the x-axis direction. The variable power supply portion 21 is connected between the fourth electrode 15 and third electrode 14. An accelerating electric field for accelerating the precursor ions in the y-axis direction is produced between the fourth electrode 15 and third electrode 14. Where the ions are positive ions, the voltage applied from the third electrode 14 toward the fourth electrode 15 is about minus tens of volts. Where the ions are negative ions, the voltage is about plus hundreds of volts.
The ion guide 16 is used to introduce the precursor ions, which have been passed through the fourth electrode 15, into the fragmentation device 17 without diffusing them. As an example, the ion guide has an internal electrode plate to produce an electric field that guides the precursor ions to the fragmentation device 17.
The fragmentation device 17 fragments the introduced precursor ions into product ions constituting the precursor ions. The fragmentation can be performed using CID (collision induced dissociation) in which the precursor ions are collided against gaseous matter to fragment the ions or a method in which the precursor ions are illuminated with light to fragment the ions.
The second mass spectrometer 18 performs a mass analysis of the product ions created by the fragmentation device 17. The second mass spectrometer 18 may be a magnetic mass spectrometer similarly to the first mass spectrometer 11. Alternatively, a quadrupole mass analyzer (QMS), ion-trap mass spectrometer (ITMS), TOF mass spectrometer (TOFMS), Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICRMS), or other instrument may be used as the second mass spectrometer. The tandem mass spectrometry system 10 acquires structural information about unfragmented precursor ions based on mass information about the product ions obtained by the second mass spectrometer 18.
The tandem mass spectrometry system 10 further includes controller 24 which has an arithmetic portion and a storage portion and controls various components including the first mass spectrometer 11, variable power supply portion 20, fragmentation device 17, and second mass spectrometer 18 to fragment the precursor ions emitted from the first mass spectrometer 11 in such a way that their kinetic energy range and spatial spread are narrowed.
The operation of the controller 24 is next described by referring to the flowchart of
Then, the controller 24 applies a decelerating voltage to the precursor ions to decelerate the velocity components of the ions in the x-axis direction (step S202). One example of this decelerating voltage is shown in
The first electrode 12, second electrode 13, and third electrode 14 are arranged in turn in the x-axis direction. The space between the first and second electrodes is 95 cm. The space between the second and third electrodes is 5 cm. The potential created by these electrodes in the x-axis direction varies linearly as shown in
The distances and potentials between the first through third electrodes 12-14 are so set that the velocity components of the precursor ions in the direction of deceleration in the midpoint between the second electrode 13 and third electrode 14 in the x-axis direction are set to null. The velocity components of the precursor ions in the direction of deceleration are distributed as described previously. Therefore, the velocity component of the precursor ions having the average velocity of the range of velocity components is set to 0.
Returning to
Consequently, the potential distribution between the second electrode 13 and the third electrode 14 assumes a cone-shaped form whose both ends are kept at the same potential; the intermediate positions are at low potentials.
The potential distribution is axisymmetric about the midpoint between the second electrode 13 and the third electrode 14 in the x-axis direction. The equipotential lines of the potential distribution are indicated by solid lines at intervals of 0.01 kV in
Where the ion beam 1 shows ranges of kinetic energies, positions, and angles when the beam enters as in the above-described simulations, the kinetic energy has a range given by 90±10 eV when the beam arrives at the fragmentation device 17. The beam spread in the x-axis direction is about 1 mm.
Positive ions have a wide range of energies in the x-axis direction. This wide range gives rise to a variation in the direction of movement when the beam is moved in the y-axis direction. On the other hand, the variation is reduced by a focusing accelerating voltage and, therefore, the range of energies in the x-axis direction can be narrowed. As a result, a narrow range of energies in the y-axis direction prevails. At this time, the kinetic energies of precursor ions have a range of about tens of keV.
Consequently, if the timing at which the voltage is switched from a decelerating voltage to an accelerating voltage deviates, for example, the precursor ions are focused toward the midpoint. The precursor ions can be guided into a hole located in the center of the fourth electrode 15. Also, the magnitude of the kinetic energy of the precursor ions entered into the fragmentation device 17 can be adjusted by the presence of the accelerating voltage. The magnitude can be optimized for the fragmentation device 17 or for the second mass spectrometer 18.
Returning to
Then, the product ions created in step S204 are mass analyzed by the second mass spectrometer 18 under control of the controller 24 (step S205). The present processing is ended. As described previously, the range of kinetic energies of the precursor ions is suppressed to ±10 eV. The beam width in the x-axis direction is suppressed to about 1 mm. Accordingly, the range of the kinetic energies of the product ions created from the precursor ions is suppressed to about ±10 eV as described above in connection with the related art. In consequence, the second mass spectrometer 18 performs a mass analysis without deteriorating the resolution of the product ion spectrum or mass accuracy.
As described so far, in the present embodiment, precursor ions created and extracted by the first mass spectrometer 11 are made to obliquely enter the decelerating electric field produced by the first electrode 12, second electrode 13, and third electrode 14 at a slight angle to the direction of the decelerating electric field. The accelerating electric field perpendicular to the decelerating electric field is applied at the timing when the precursor ions arrive at the midpoint between the second electrode 13 and the third electrode 14 at which the velocity of the ions in the direction of the decelerating electric field is zero. The ions are introduced into the fragmentation device 17. Consequently, the range of the kinetic energies of the precursor ions is narrowed. This can narrow the range of the kinetic energies of the product ions produced from the precursor ions by the fragmentation device 17. When the product ions are mass analyzed in the second mass spectrometer 18, deterioration of spectral resolution and mass accuracy is prevented.
Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the precursor ions are fragmented into product ions by the fragmentation device 17. The fragmentation may also be performed by the second mass spectrometer. In this case, an ion-trap mass spectrometer (ITMS) or Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FTICRMS) is used as the second mass spectrometer.
A quadrupole mass spectrometer can introduce precursor ions efficiently similarly to an ion-trap mass spectrometer and a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. Therefore, the quadrupole mass spectrometer suppresses the kinetic energies of the precursor ions to tens of keV. The diameter of the entrance hole for the precursor ions is set to a small value on the order of millimeters. Therefore, where precursor ions are introduced into these mass spectrometers using deceleration means including the first through fourth electrodes 12-15 together with any one of these mass spectrometers, the range of the kinetic energies and spatial spread of the precursor ions is narrowed. Consequently, mass analysis is enabled without deterioration of spectral resolution and mass accuracy.
Where a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer is used as the second mass spectrometer, ECD (electron capture dissociation) or IRPMD (infrared multiphoton dissociation) can also be used as a method of fragmenting precursor ions.
Having thus described our invention with the detail and particularity required by the Patent Laws, what is desired protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2006-111530 | Apr 2006 | JP | national |