Pulsed-gas glow discharge for ultrahigh mass resolution measurements with fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry.

A new pulsed-gas glow discharge (GD) source has been developed for use with an external ion source Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometer. With pulsed argon gas introduction into the GD source, the gas load and pressure in the mass analyzer region were greatly reduced; this resulted in improved mass resolution. Mass resolution of greater than 1 450 000 (fwhm) has been achieved for Cu(+) ions from a brass sample, the highest reported for any type of GD mass spectrometer. The pulsed-gas GD source promises analytical usefulness for ultrahigh resolution measurements in GD mass spectrometry.