2011 R&D 100 Winner
While most advances in mass spectrometry have focused on improved technologies upstream of the detector, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Wash., and partners have developed a new approach to detector technology. The Array Detection Technology for Mass Spectrometry features thousands of micro-fabricated detectors arranged in a dense array and electronically integrated into a single monolithic chip-based device to simultaneously monitor and detect wide mass ranges without any loss of signal.
Conventional detectors can detect only a single mass or a small range of masses at one time; other chemical information for that analysis is lost or undetected. Multiple scans or runs are required to detect and analyze an entire chemical sample. The new detection technology can analyze the entire composition of a test sample in a single run.
The array detector has several thousand metal strips; each collects charges from impinging ion beams separated by mass or mobility. Each detector channel has its own dedicated electronic circuitry. Signals can be monitored, processed, optimized, and communicated independently for analytical and data processing flexibility. The detector is featured in an inductively coupled mass spectrometer introduced by Spectro/Ametek.
Technology
Mass spectrometer detector
Developers
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
University of Arizona
Indiana University
iMAGERLABS
SPECTRO Analytical Instruments/Ametek
Development Team
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| (l-r): Charles Barinaga, David Koppenaal, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory |
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| (l-r): Bonner Denton, Roger Sperline, University of Arizona Team |
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| (l-r): Steve Ray, James Barnes, Greg Schilling, Gary Hieftje. Inset: Jeremy Felton |
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| Dirk Ardelt, SPECTRO Analytical Instruments/Ametek |
The Array Detection Technology for Mass Spectrometry (ADT-MS) Development Team
David Koppenaal, Principal Developer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
M. Bonner Denton, Principal Developer, University of Arizona
Dirk Ardelt, SPECTRO Analytical Instruments/Ametek
Gene Atlas, iMAGERLABS
Charles Barinaga, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
James Barnes, Indiana University
Jeremy Felton, Indiana University
Gary M. Hieftje, Indiana University
Steve Ray, Indiana University
Greg Schilling, Indiana University
Roger Sperline, University of Arizona
