STEREOSCOPIC VIEWS OF 3-DIMENSIONAL ION TRAJECTORIES IN ION-CYCLOTRONRESONANCE AND QUADRUPOLE ION TRAPS

The trajectory of an ion in a Penning (ion cyclotron resonance) or Pau l (quadrupole) ion trap is complex, typically consisting of two or thr ee simultaneous linear or circular motions, It is therefore useful to be able to view such trajectories three-dimensionally, to be able to s eparate the component motions and better understand how to trap and ma nipulate ions so as to measure ion mass, charge and energy, and determ ine ion structure and reactivity. Here, we present a simple algorithm (in Basic for a personal computer) to generate stereoscopic images for viewing trapped-ion three dimensional trajectories, Stereoscopic proj ection is particularly useful for visualizing multiple motional modes, as for the three simultaneous cyclotron, magnetron and trapping motio ns in an ion cyclotron resonance ion trap, Examples of trajectories of ions in Penning and Paul ion traps are shown, as well as a magnetic r esonance magnetization trajectory during conventional azimuthal dipola r excitation. Images are available in color video display as well as h ard copy, c-code is provided.