Dj. Douglas et Nv. Konenkov, ION-SOURCE EMITTANCE INFLUENCE ON THE TRANSMISSION OF A QUADRUPOLE OPERATED IN THE 2ND STABILITY REGION, Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 9(10), 1998, pp. 1074-1080
The variation of transmission (T) with resolution (R) has been calcula
ted for a quadrupole mass filter operated in the second stability regi
on with Mathieu parameters q = 7.547 and a = 0 to 0.02995. The fringin
g fields at the entrance to the quadrupole, which can be strongly defo
cusing, and which can dramatically reduce the acceptance, have been in
cluded in the calculation. Even in the absence of fringing fields, at
a resolution of 10,000 the acceptance in the x and y directions is les
s than 2 x 10(-4) pi r(0)(4) f(2) which is about 10(-3) of the accepta
nce in the first stability region at low resolution. Because the sourc
e emittance can strongly effect the T(R) behavior, the calculation of
ion transmission has been done for two source emittances that correspo
nd to different degrees of focusing of ions into the quadrupole. The T
(R) characteristics for two realistic source emittances give behavior
markedly different from the decrease in acceptance with increasing res
olution which previously has been used as a measure of the quadrupole
transmission. Comparisons of the calculated transmission losses with i
ncreasing resolution to earlier experimental results obtained with an
inductively coupled plasma source show good agreement provided an emit
tance which corresponds to ions being tightly focused into the quadrup
ole is used. The calculation demonstrates that up to a resolution at h
alf height of 7000 in the experiment, the transmission losses were a r
esult of the decreasing quadrupole acceptance. At higher resolution th
e experimental transmission was limited by either the residence time o
f the ions in the quadrupole or the rod quality. It is also shown that
the strong defocusing effects of the fringing fields at the entrance
of the quadrupole can be largely overcome by accelerating the ions thr
ough these fields and then decelerating the ions in the quadrupole. (C
) 1998 American Society for Mass Spectrometry.