PNNL

Abstract

A fast "dynamic ion cooling" technique based upon the "adiabatic invariant" phenomenon for Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR) is presented. The method cools ions in the FTICR trap more efficiently within a few hundred milliseconds without the use of a buffer gas, and results in a substantial signal enhancement. All performance aspects of the FTICR spectrum, e.g. peak intensities, mass resolution, and mass accuracy, improve significantly compared with cooling based on ion-ion interactions. The method may be useful in biological applications of FTICR, such as in proteomic studies involving extended on-line LC separations, in which both the duty cycle and mass accuracy are crucially important.