Development of a field-portable time-of-flight mass spectrometer system

APL has developed and demonstrated a miniature time-of-flight (TOF) mass sp ectrometer that can identify biological warfare agents. Its small size and low power consumption make the miniature TOF mass spectrometer an ideal can didate for field applications, overcoming limitations of the current genera tion of biodetection systems. Portable applications require additional feat ures such as ruggedized packaging, battery-powered electronics and data acq uisition, automated sample collection, and automated signal processing and control software. In this article pre describe the design of a TOF mass spe ctrometer system that incorporates these capabilities and integrates suppor ting technologies under development. Design goals include short analysis ti mes (<5 min), high sensitivity, wide agent bandwidth, portability, low powe r consumption, minimal use of fluids, unattended operation, and automated d etection and classification.