Co-occurrence of boundary and resonance ejection in a multiplexed rectilinear ion trap mass spectrometer.

A method is reported for evaluating ion trap mass analyzers by selection of operating conditions under which both boundary and resonance ejection peaks occur in a single mass scan. The choice of frequency and amplitude of the auxiliary waveform applied for resonance ejection can be such as to produce a resonance ejection mass spectrum with unit resolution or, under selected conditions, signals attributable to both boundary and resonance ejection in a single mass scan. The contrasting mass resolution associated with these two ejection processes is evident in these data. The co-occurrence of the two ejection phenomena is ascribed to the effects of higher-order fields; it is more marked in some rectilinear ion traps (RITs) than in other nominally identical devices, leading to the possibility of using it to compare individual mass analyzers in multiplexed instruments. The method is used to compare multiple ion traps driven by the same RF signal in a fully-multiplexed mass spectrometer, composed of parallel ion source/mass analyzer/detector channels each housed in one quadrant of a specialized vacuum chamber.