Simple analytic potentials for linear ion traps

Linear ion traps in mass spectrometry.

Linear ion traps are finding new applications in many areas of mass spectrometry. In a linear ion trap, ions are confined radially by a two-dimensional (2D) radio frequency (RF) field, and axially by stopping potentials applied to end electrodes. This review focuses on linear ion trap instrumentation. Potentials and ion motion in linear multipole fields and methods of ion trapping, cooling, exc...

Parallel ion strings in linear multipole traps

Suitability of linear quadrupole ion traps for large Coulomb crystals

Growing and studying large Coulomb crystals, composed of tens to hundreds of thousands of ions, in linear quadrupole ion traps presents new challenges for trap implementation. We consider several trap designs, first comparing the total driven micromotion amplitude as a function of location within the trapping volume; total micromotion is an important point of comparison since it can limit cryst...

Virtual potentials for feedback traps.

The recently developed feedback trap can be used to create arbitrary virtual potentials, to explore the dynamics of small particles or large molecules in complex situations. Experimentally, feedback traps introduce several finite time scales: There is a delay between the measurement of a particle's position and the feedback response, the feedback response is applied for a finite update time, an...

Simple radio-frequency power source for ion guides and ion traps

A high power oscillator circuit, designed to power radio-frequency ~rf! ion guides and traps, is described. The rf circuit is directly coupled to the guide/trap electrodes, and no frequency or impedance matching is required. The design provides precisely adjustable rf amplitudes from ;50 to 600 V, either under manual or computer control. The operating frequency can be varied from ,1 to ;30 MHz ...