US 12,376,770 B2
System and method for ion packet formation, delivery, and calibration in mass spectrometry
Mazdak Taghioskoui, North Bethesda, MD (US)
Assigned to Trace Matters Scientific LLC, North Bethesda, MD (US)
Filed by Trace Matters Scientific LLC, North Bethesda, MD (US)
Filed on Mar. 7, 2025, as Appl. No. 19/074,174.
Application 19/074,174 is a continuation of application No. 18/789,390, filed on Jul. 30, 2024.
Application 18/789,390 is a continuation of application No. 17/570,235, filed on Jan. 6, 2022, granted, now 12,089,932, issued on Sep. 17, 2024.
Application 17/570,235 is a continuation of application No. 16/509,016, filed on Jul. 11, 2019, granted, now 11,219,393, issued on Jan. 11, 2022.
Application 16/509,016 is a continuation in part of application No. 16/350,396, filed on Jul. 12, 2018, granted, now 10,840,077, issued on Nov. 17, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/855,089, filed on May 31, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/838,076, filed on Apr. 24, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/680,592, filed on Jun. 5, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2025/0204823 A1, Jun. 26, 2025
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H01J 49/42 (2006.01); H01J 49/06 (2006.01)
CPC H01J 49/4235 (2013.01) [H01J 49/065 (2013.01)] 27 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A mass spectrometry system comprising:
a first ion source and a second ion source that produce ions,
wherein the ions produced by the second ion source are calibration ions to calibrate the mass spectrometry system;
an ion transfer device that includes a plurality of electrodes, the plurality of electrodes are connected to one or more voltage sources, the one or more voltage sources supply one or more voltages to the plurality of electrodes of the ion transfer device,
wherein the ion transfer device receives the ions and forms a first ion packet and a second ion packet from the received ions,
wherein the ion transfer device receives the ions as a continuous stream of incoming ions during a first time period from an inlet of the ion transfer device, and forms the first ion packet by accumulating the continuous stream of the incoming ions during the first time period,
wherein, during a second time period when the ion transfer device delivers the first ion packet via an outlet of the ion transfer device, the ion transfer device receives the ions as the continuous stream of the incoming ions from the inlet of the ion transfer device to form the second ion packet by accumulating the continuous stream of the incoming ions, and
wherein the ion transfer device delivers the first ion packet and the second ion packet to the outlet of the ion transfer device as separate ion packets exiting the ion transfer device at a frequency in a range from 1 Hz to 1000 Hz; and
a mass analyzer that separates the ions in the first and the second ion packets based on mass-to-charge ratio of the ions,
wherein the ion transfer device periodically forms calibration ion packets from the calibration ions to calibrate the mass spectrometry system or the mass analyzer.