Abstract
Most mass analysis relies on “nominal” mass accuracy (i.e., to within 1 Da). However, chemical and biochemical applications are increasingly based on much more accurate mass measurement. Mass spectrometric resolution (defined here as the spacing between resolved peaks) does not increase monotonically with increasing spectrometer resolving power for large molecules. Rather, resolution improves by a series of steps. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) effectively extends the onset of each of these stages to ∼100 times higher mass than for any other mass analyzer. FT-ICR performance increases linearly (mass resolving power, data acquisition speed) or quadratically (dynamic range, upper mass limit, length of time that ions can be held in a Penning trap) with increasing magnetic field. NHMFL operates two 9.4 T FT-ICR instruments, and has just installed the world's highest field magnet (14.5 T) for FT-ICR mass analysis.
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