Comparison of the results of the aberration approach for the calculation of electrostatic TOF mass analyzers with simulation in SIMION

Abstract

In the last few years, high-resolution time-of-flight mass analyzers (TOF-MA) have been intensively developed. Their development requires tools that provide very accurate calculation of ion trajectories in electric fields, since an error on the scale of hundreds of picoseconds at millisecond flight times (10⁻¹⁰ %) already leads to noticeable distortions of the result. The main apparatus for calculating such systems is the aberration theory, but it has a limitation in the accuracy of calculations, since it is based on expansion in a series, and taking into account the next order of expansion significantly complicates the formulas. In this regard, using the example of calculating ion trajectories for TOF-MA with sector electrostatic fields, a comparison of the results, obtained using the aberration theory was carried out with the results of modeling in Simion. Results of the comparison indicate the possibility of applicability of the program for calculating multi-turn mass analyzers (MT-MA). Using the developed program, MT-MA with a resolution of 470,000 was calculated.