Gridless Ion Acceleration Systems for Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry.

Pointlike ion sources allow the application of gridless acceleration systems in time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF/MS). When ions are extracted from large sample areas according to the applied ionization method and sample geometry, the application of electrostatic lenses for acceleration seems to be difficult. Inhomogeneous extraction fields are likely to induce acceleration time variations for ions emerging from different locations on the sample. We investigated gridless acceleration systems with the help of computer simulations. An appropriate solution for TOF/MS was found and experimentally tested, combining the features of compactness and a wide-acceptance aperture with simple principles of construction. nt]mis|Dedicated to Ronald D, Macfarlane on the occasion of his 60th birthday.