Theoretical calculations for mass resolution of a quadrupole ion trap reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer

We have developed a theoretical method of predicting the mass resolution for a quadrupole ion trap reflectron time-of-flight (QIT-reTOF) mass spectrometer as a function of the spatial and velocity distributions of ions, voltages applied to the electrodes, and dimensions of the instrument. The flight times of ions were calculated using theoretical equations derived with an assumption of uniform electric fields inside the QIT and with the analytical description of the potential including the monopole, dipole, and quadrupole components. The mass resolution was then estimated from the flight-time spread of the ions with finite spatial and velocity distributions inside the QIT. The feasibility of the theoretical method was confirmed by the reasonable agreement of the theoretical resolution with the experimental one measured by varying the extraction voltage of the QIT or the deceleration voltage of the reflectron. We found that the theoretical resolution estimated with the assumption of the uniform electric fields inside the QIT reproduced the experimental one better than that with the analytical description of the potential. The possible applications of this theoretical method include the optimization of the experimental parameters of a given QIT-reTOF mass spectrometer and the design of new instruments with higher mass resolution.