Instrumentation and methodology for simultaneous excitation/detection of ions in an FTICR mass spectrometer

A method for direct and continuous detection of ion motion during different perturbation events of the fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTIC R) experiment is demonstrated. The modifications necessary to convert an or dinary FTICR cell into one capable of performing simultaneous excitation/de tection (SED) using a capacitive network are outlined. With these modificat ions, a 200-fold reduction in the detection of the coupled excitation signa l is achieved, This allows the unique ability not only to observe the respo nse to the perturbation but to observe the perturbation event itself. SED i s used successfully to monitor the ion cyclotron transient during single-fr equency excitation, remeasurement and excite-tau-excite experiments.