Field-modulated selective ion storage in a quadrupole ion trap

A new method of selective ion storage in a quadrupole ion trap is described. Broadband waveforms were applied to the endcaps of an ion trap to eject unwanted ions by resonance excitation, which enhanced the storage of selected target ions. A unique trapping field amplitude modulation technique allowed the use of waveforms with fewer frequency components. The requirements and methods of calculations for frequency-optimized wave-forms are discussed. Advantages of this method include the reduction of target ion loss that results from collision-activated dissociation. In other applications, equivalent performance, relative to methods that use nonmodulated trapping fields combined with waveforms that have a higher frequency density, was shown.