Abstract: A fractionation system comprising means for forming a three dimensional optical lattice that is operable to separate particles that have different physical characteristics. Preferably, the wells of the optical lattice are interlinked. For example, the wells may be linked in such a manner as to provide deflection greater than or equal to 15 degrees.

Abstract: A closed-loop ion guide is disclosed comprising a plurality of electrodes having apertures through which ions are transmitted in use. Ions are injected into the closed-loop ion guide and may make several circuits of the closed-loop ion guide before being ejected from the ion guide. In a mode of operation the ion guide may be arranged to separate ions temporally according to their ion mobility.

Abstract: A time of flight (TOF) spectrometer and a method for operating the same is disclosed. The spectrometer includes an event extractor, a streaming processor, and a FIFO buffer. The event extractor generates a ion event record corresponding to each detected ion, the ion event record including an intensity of a plurality of aliases for that detected ion. The streaming processor includes a memory array that stores a TOF spectrum and a probability processor that provides a probability for each alias in each received ion event record and updates the TOF spectrum based on the probabilities. A FIFO buffer receives each of the ion event records after the TOF spectrum has been updated and outputs the oldest ion event record to the streaming processor when a new ion event record is processed by the streaming processor.