Abstract: An ion extraction method and system includes: i) confining ions within an ion trap extending along a longitudinal axis; ii) exciting a subset of the ions to cause them to oscillate along at least one transverse coordinate; iii) after the transverse excitation, applying a first field and a second field in the region of the transverse excitation to move the excited ions towards one end of the ion trap and extract at least some of the excited ions at the end of the ion trap.

Abstract: An ion extraction method and system includes: i) confining ions within an ion trap extending along a longitudinal axis; ii) exciting a subset of the ions to cause them to oscillate along at least one transverse coordinate; iii) after the transverse excitation, applying a first field and a second field in the region of the transverse excitation to move the excited ions towards one end of the ion trap and extract at least some of the excited ions at the end of the ion trap.

Abstract: In a tandem mass spectrometer ions are created only once and stored in an ion reservoir. A particular ion species to be analyzed is then exported from the reservoir through a mass selective ion gate without damaging the other ion species remaining in the reservoir. All subsequent analyses are conducted on these stored ions, without adding further ions so that no changes in the concentrations of the stored ion species occur. The exported ions are fragmented, and a fragment ion mass spectrum is measured in a mass analyzer, preferably in a time-of-flight mass analyzer with orthogonal ion injection. The processes of exporting a selected ion species with subsequent fragmentation and the acquisition of the fragment ion spectrum can be repeated for any number of ion species stored in the reservoir.

Abstract: The invention features a method including: i) confining ions to stable trajectories within an ion trap; ii) exciting a subset of the ions along at least one transverse coordinate; iii) rotating the transverse excitation into an excitation along an axial coordinate; and iv) transferring at least some of the axially excited ions from the ion trap along the axial coordinate. For example, the ions may be transferred to an ion detector or to a subsequent ion trap.

Abstract: The invention features a method including: i) confining ions to stable trajectories within an ion trap; ii) exciting a subset of the ions along at least one transverse coordinate; iii) rotating the transverse excitation into an excitation along an axial coordinate; and iv) transferring at least some of the axially excited ions from the ion trap along the axial coordinate. For example, the ions may be transferred to an ion detector or to a subsequent ion trap.