Visual representations of simulated three-dimensional ion trajectories in an ion trap mass spectrometer

✍ Scribed by M. Nappi; C. Weil; C.D. Cleven; L.A. Horn; H. Wollnik; R.G. Cooks

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 662 KB
• Volume: 161
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0168-1176
• DOI: 10.1016/s0168-1176(96)04416-3

✦ Synopsis

Procedures are described for displaying trajectories of ions in an ion trap mass spectrometer in a three-dimensional fashion, and also for displaying the corresponding projections onto individual planes. The ion trap simulation program ~TSIM was employed to simulate ion motion and produce an ASCII file containing the spatial and temporal coordinates of the ions studied, and a three-dimensional plotting routine was implemented to display the data. These capabilities are used to demonstrate that ions formed in the ion trap with zero initial velocity are confined to a plane, and that ions formed with different initial positions but with zero initial velocities move in different planes. Ions generated with velocity components in the radial direction trace a three-dimensional trajectory. As the initial velocity in the x or y direction increases, the ions occupy more of the available space within the trap. Three-dimensional visualization of simulated trajectories is shown to assist in elucidating the behavior of trapped ions. Predictions are made for procedures which minimize space charge.