Instrumentation
In general a mass spectrometer consists of an ion source, a mass-selective analyzer, and an ion detector. Since mass spectrometers create and manipulate gas-phase ions, they operate in a high-vacuum system. The magnetic-sector, quadrupole, and time-of-flight designs also require extraction and acceleration ion optics to transfer ions from the source region into the mass analyzer. The details of mass analyzer designs are discussed in the individual documents listed below. Basic descriptions of sample introduction/ionization and ion detection are discussed in separate documents on ionization methods and ion detectors, respectively.