High-field Orbitrap

Exhibit no. 757

An orbitrap is an ion trap mass analyzer consisting of an outer barrel-like electrode and a coaxial inner spindle-like electrode that form an electrostatic field. The analyzed ions are trapped in an orbital motion around the spindle. The frequency of harmonic oscillations along the axis of the electrostatic field is inversely proportional to the square root of m/z. The image current from the trapped ions is detected and converted to a mass spectrum using the Fourier transform of the frequency signal. The high-field trap shown in the picture is a variant of orbitrap offering higher resolving power over fixed acquisition time. The improved performance is achieved by decreasing the gap between the inner and outer electrodes, thus providing higher field strength for a given voltage.