Mass Spectrometry - Common Mass Spectrometer Configurations and Techniques

Common Mass Spectrometer Configurations and Techniques

When a specific configuration of source, analyzer, and detector becomes conventional in practice, often a compound acronym arises to designate it, and the compound acronym may be better known among nonspectrometrists than the component acronyms. The epitome of this is MALDI-TOF, which simply refers to combining a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization source with a time-of-flight mass analyzer. The MALDI-TOF moniker is more widely recognized by the non-mass spectrometrists than MALDI or TOF individually. Other examples include inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), thermal ionization-mass spectrometry (TIMS) and spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS). Sometimes the use of the generic "MS" actually connotes a very specific mass analyzer and detection system, as is the case with AMS, which is always sector based.

Certain applications of mass spectrometry have developed monikers that although strictly speaking would seem to refer to a broad application, in practice have come instead to connote a specific or a limited number of instrument configurations. An example of this is isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), which refers in practice to the use of a limited number of sector based mass analyzers; this name is used to refer to both the application and the instrument used for the application.