Mass measurement errors caused by “local” frequency perturbations in FTICR mass spectrometry

Abstract

One of the key qualities of mass spectrometric measurements for biomolecules is the mass measurement accuracy (MMA) obtained. FTICR presently provides the highest MMA over a broad m/ z range. However, due to space charge effects, the achievable MMA crucially depends on the number of ions trapped in the ICR cell for a measurement. Thus, beyond some point, as the effective sensitivity and dynamic range of a measurement increase, MMA tends to decrease. While analyzing deviations from the commonly used calibration law in FTICR we have found systematic errors which are not accounted for by a “global” space charge correction approach. The analysis of these errors and their dependence on charge population and post-excite radius have led us to conclude that each ion cloud experiences a different interaction with other ion clouds. We propose a novel calibration function which is shown to provide an improvement in MMA for all the spectra studied.