Spotlight on Mass Spectrometry Solutions from Advanced Energy

About ten years ago, people started noticing that low concentrations of pharmaceuticals were in drinking water. You might remember that the Associated Press released a report which said that antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones had been found in the water supplies of at least 41 million Americans. How was that analysis made? Mass spectrometry.

Analyzing water supplies on Earth is one thing, how about figuring out what makes up the atmosphere around Saturn? The Cassini orbiter was equipped with the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) and spent 10 years providing information on the ringed planet. We now know, with certainty, that the atmosphere there contains water vapor, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, simple organics and complex organics.

Trust the Power, Trust the Data

You’ll notice that we said, “with certainty.” You see, thanks to years of refining mass spectrometer technologies, the data that these devices produce has steadily improved. That’s obviously critical to end users with applications such as sample ionization, mass filtering and ion detection. To improve the products, they are asking mass spectrometer manufacturers to enable a higher mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) range, improve resolution, reduce tool footprint, increase reliability and make devices easier to operate.

That’s an impressive but not daunting list of performance demands, and it’s precisely what we are working to achieve with our power supplies:

• UltraVolt^® AA series – The AA Series are miniature PCB-mount, regulated DC-DC converters, ranging from 62 to 6,000 VDC of high voltage power. They are available in single-output positive or negative polarities, deliver up to 30 W from 12 or 24 VDC inputs.
• HiTek Power^® MSRL series – One feature of this series is a latched output voltage polarity that can only be changed when the output voltage has been set to zero.
• HiTek Power IP100 series – Primarily designed for vacuum chamber ion pumps, the IP100 also can be used in mass spec applications and scanning electron microscopes.
• UltraVolt^® E series – Ideal in applications where system performance is directly linked to high voltage power quality and performance, E series precision high voltage power supplies have very low ripple, excellent linearity and very stable temperature characteristics.

Responding to Performance and Cost Challenges

You might not be analyzing water supplies close to home or in outer space, but you most likely are looking to simplify system design and minimize manufacturing costs without compromising measurement performance. We can help you achieve those goals by recommending or designing a power supply specific to your industry and application. Our high voltage supplies are ideal for quadrupole (single or triple) and time-of-flight (ToF) mass filters, electrospray ionization (ESI), photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), and Dynodes. You can learn more about our solutions for mass spectrometry on our site and really get into the details by contacting us.