1.4.2 System components
The onboard system incorporates a 7-port selector valve, a multi-position diverter valve, a pump,
and three sample reservoirs.
The sample reservoirs are mounted on the instrument’s front panel. When you select a solvent
from the instrument console, an LED illuminates the appropriate reservoir. You can
simultaneously illuminate all three reservoirs or extinguish the LEDs for light-sensitive samples.
Recommendation:
Use reservoir A for the calibrant solution, reservoir B for tuning
compounds, and reservoir C for analyte/optimization solution.
1.4.3 System operation
The software automatically controls solvent and sample delivery during auto-tuning, auto-
calibration, and method development, via the instrument console.
See the mass spectrometer’s online Help for additional details on IntelliStart software and
operation of the instrument’s solvent delivery system.
1.5 Ion optics
The mass spectrometer’s ion optics operate as follows:
1.
Samples from the LC or instrument’s solvent delivery system are introduced at atmospheric
pressure into the ionization source, where they are ionized.
2.
The ions pass through the sample cone into the vacuum system.
3.
The resulting ion beam passes through the source sampling orifice, undergoing a certain
amount of expansion.
4.
The ion beam then passes into the entrance of the StepWave transfer optics. The entrance
is large enough to efficiently capture ions in the expanded beam. The StepWave transfer
optics comprise two stages. The first stage (conjoined ion guide) focuses the ion beam and
directs it to the second stage (T-Wave ion guide). The off-axis design ensures that any
neutral materials entering the source sampling orifice are actively extracted from the
system.
5.
The ions then pass to the first quadrupole, where they can be filtered according to their
mass-to-charge ratio (
m/z
).
6.
The mass-separated ions pass into the T-Wave/ScanWave collision cell, where they
undergo collision-induced dissociation (CID) or pass to the second quadrupole. Any
fragment ions can then be mass-analyzed by the second quadrupole.
7.
The transmitted ions are detected by the photomultiplier detection system.
8.
The signal is amplified, digitized, and sent to the mass spectrometry software:
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