It is possible to configure electric and magnetic fields so that ions can be held in stable orbits for a period of time long enough to perform useful measurements on them. Two forms of mass spectrometers are derived from this idea, the omegatron and the Fourier-transform spectrometer. Both make use of the cyclotron principle (see particle accelerator: Cyclotrons), in which positive ions produced by a beam of electrons flowing along the axis of a uniform magnetic field follow circular trajectories with a radius proportional to momentum, r = mv/zB, and a frequency of rotation inversely proportional to mass, ω = v/r = zB/m. In the omegatron the frequency of an oscillator is varied so as to bring ions of various masses in tune and by so doing increase their momenta until they reach a radius at which a detector is located. Mass can be directly calculated from frequency. Resolution can be remarkably high if a sufficient magnetic field is provided, but this analyzer is most frequently operated with less than ideal resolution as a device for analyzing the residual gas of a vacuum, information that can be extremely valuable in diagnosing the problems that often befall such systems.

In the Fourier-transform method, the frequency of the oscillator is swept through the range corresponding to the mass range of interest. Each ion is placed into a circular orbit of approximately constant radius but well-defined frequency. The oscillator is turned off, and an electrode picks up radio-frequency radiation from the moving ions. The amplified output can be recorded either directly or after having been mixed with the frequency of a local oscillator, a standard radio technique. This yields a complex time-varying signal that follows the amplitude of the various ion radiators. The signal is converted to digital form and stored in a computer memory. The computer converts this periodic signal to its frequency spectrum by the mathematical technique known as the Fourier transform, with mass being inversely proportional to frequency. The process is repeated many times in order to enhance accuracy. These devices are capable of resolutions exceeding one million. In order to have orbital radii of convenient size, very high magnetic fields are required, generally provided by superconductors.

Tandem spectrometry

The combination of two analytical techniques, such as resulted in the gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer, has been followed by the combination of two mass spectrometers, which has proved helpful in determining the structure of complicated molecules. A beam from the first spectrometer is passed into a gas cell (maintained in the vacuum system by differential pumping), where it is dissociated by collisions, and these fragments are passed on to a second mass analyzer, which generally discloses a more easily identified spectrum.

Quadrupole spectrometer

Positive ions incident along an axis parallel to four cylindrical electrodes, as shown in Figure 6, experience for the static potentials indicated a focusing force along the x axis and a defocusing one in the z direction. If one superimposes a radio frequency voltage onto the static voltage, oscillatory ion trajectories can be found that allow ions of a given mass to pass through the quadrupole with other masses being defocused and lost from the beam. A knowledge of the potentials and frequency specifies the mass. This device is widely used where speed of data acquisition and high transmission are important. It is compact and lightweight and can trade off sensitivity for resolution by simple adjustment of electrical parameters. It is the common analyzing element of gas chromatograph–mass spectrometers.

Photographic plates

Especially sensitive photographic plates are employed to compensate for the low penetrating power of the ions. It has proved possible with these to detect an element over a sensitivity range of one part in one billion. In addition to the sensitivity, a major advantage of the photographic plate arises when it is used in a double-focusing mass spectroscope in which the whole or a major part of the mass spectrum is focused in a plane (see the design of Mattauch and Herzog shown in Figure 4 and described above). In this case, one can make use of the integrating action of the plate and compare the densities of lines due to different elements.

Faraday cup

The direct measurement of ion currents collected by a shielded electrode, called a Faraday cup, became possible in the 1930s with the introduction of electrometer tubes capable of measuring currents below a nanoampere, although sensitive galvanometers had been used for larger currents. The introduction of feedback led to greater stability and accuracy and faster response time, but it was the introduction of the vibrating-reed electrometer that allowed isotopic ratios to be routinely measured to a few parts in a hundred thousand. For more than three decades, these electrometers functioned unsurpassed as laboratory workhorses and were only slightly modified in design. They can now be equaled and in some respects surpassed in performance by the feedback electrometer, which uses a metal-oxide silicon field-effect transistor instead of a tube to measure extremely small currents.