Selective Background Suppression in MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Rapid bipolar pulsing of an electrostatic particle guide (EPG) provides a method of both ion deflection and enhanced ion transmission for TOF mass spectrometry. This mode of operation effectively eliminates the intense low-mass component of the spectrum which normally saturates microchannel plate (MCP) detectors, while at the same time transporting the higher mass component with high efficiency. The ability to selectively reduce the effects of unwanted background peaks is achieved using a tailored pulse sequence for specific elimination of ions of a given m/z ratio. The mass selectivity of this technique and improvements in signal-to-noise ratio are examined. © 1994, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.