Speaker
Description
A new mass-separation technique based on mass-dependent focusing in radio-frequency (RF) quadrupoles is presented. The focusing effect was originally observed during ion-optical simulations for the definition of the low-energy beamline of the S3 spectrometer and was subsequently developed further during a maturation project funded by SATT Conectus. The novel technique can be combined with the standard operating principle of quadrupole mass filters (QMF), which is based on the stability of ion-motion. The expected gain in performance, in terms of mass resolution and transmission, exceeds an order of magnitude compared to current quadrupole mass filters. Recent simulations have shown that the technique can simultaneously achieve resolving powers above 10000 (FWHM) and transmission efficiencies above 80% over a broad mass range from 85 u to 2000 u and for ion kinetic energies up to several hundred eV. Experimental verification using a dedicated quadrupole prototype validated the focusing principle and enabled resolving powers of 14300 for Cs$^+$ ions. The compactness, simplicity, speed, and low cost of quadrupoles, together with the expected performance gains, make the technique particularly attractive for isobaric separation of short-lived exotic nuclei. Several related projects are currently under preparation, including collaborations on short-lived radioactive ion beam identification and industrial implementation of the technique in commercial mass spectrometry (MS) filters and analyzers.
| Paper status | Resubmitted proceeding files received and assigned to an editor. Accepted. |
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