Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with improved signal-to-noise and signal-to-background ratios

1. A method for operating a collision/reaction cell to suppress interferences in an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) system, the method comprising:

flowing a collision/reaction gas into the collision/reaction cell, the collision/reaction cell comprising an entrance, an exit and a multipole ion guide positioned between the entrance and the exit;

transmitting ions through the entrance and into the collision/reaction cell, wherein the ions comprise analyte ions and interfering ions;

applying an exit DC potential at the exit at a first magnitude to generate a DC potential barrier effective to prevent the ions from exiting the collision/reaction cell;

maintaining the exit DC potential at the first magnitude during a confinement period to perform an interaction effective to suppress interfering ion signal intensity as measured by a mass spectrometer, the interaction selected from the group consisting of:

reacting the interfering ions with the collision/reaction gas according to a reaction effective to convert the interfering ions to non-interfering ions or to neutral species, wherein the analyte ions collide with the collision/reaction gas a plurality of times effective to slow down and confine the analyte ions in the collision/reaction cell; and

reacting the analyte ions with the collision/reaction gas according to a reaction effective to produce product ions, wherein the product ions collide with the collision/reaction gas a plurality of times effective to slow down and confine the product ions in the collision/reaction cell;

after the confinement period, transmitting the analyte ions or the product ions to the mass spectrometer by switching the exit DC potential to a second magnitude effective to allow the analyte ions or the product ions to pass through the exit as a pulse having a pulse duration; and

measuring the analyte ions or the product ions for a measurement period having a duration approximately equal to the pulse duration.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first magnitude and the second magnitude are selected from the group consisting of:

the second magnitude is more negative than the first magnitude;

the first magnitude is a positive or zero magnitude and the second magnitude is a negative or zero magnitude;

the first magnitude is in a range from 0 V to +100 V; and

the second magnitude is in a range from −200 V to 0 V.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the switching has a duration in a range from 0.01 ms to 0.1 ms.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the confinement period has a duration in a range from 0 ms to 1000 ms.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement period has a duration in a range from a FWHM of a peak of the pulse to five times the FWHM.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pulse duration is in a range from 0.01 ms to 1 ms.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the exit DC potential at the exit comprises applying the exit DC potential at an exit lens of the collision/reaction cell.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising continuing to transmit the ions through the entrance and into the collision/reaction cell during the confinement period.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising applying an axial DC potential gradient along the multipole ion guide, wherein the confined ions are prevented from exiting the collision/reaction cell through the entrance during the confinement period.

10. The method of claim 1 , comprising performing a step selected from the group consisting of:

applying an entrance DC potential at the entrance during at least a latter part of the confinement period effective to prevent the confined analyte ions from exiting the collision/reaction cell through the entrance and prevent interfering ions from entering the collision/reaction cell through the entrance;

applying an entrance DC potential at the entrance during the measurement period effective to prevent interfering ions from entering the collision/reaction cell through the entrance; and

both of the foregoing.

11. The method of claim 1 , comprising, before transmitting the ions through the entrance and into the collision/reaction cell, performing a step selected from the group consisting of:

producing the ions by exposing the sample to an inductively coupled plasma;

producing the ions by exposing the sample to an inductively coupled plasma, wherein exposing the sample comprises operating a plasma torch; and

flowing the sample into a plasma torch from a nebulizer or a spray chamber, and producing the ions by exposing the sample to an inductively coupled plasma produced by the plasma torch.

12. The method of claim 1 , comprising selecting the collision/reaction gas based on the chemical identity of the analyte ion and the chemical identity of the interfering ion.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the analyte ions are first analyte ions of a first mass, the interfering ions are first interference ions, the confinement period is a first confinement period of a first duration, the pulse is a first pulse, and the analyte ions further comprise second analyte ions of a second mass different from the first mass, and further comprising:

after measuring the first analyte ions contained in the first pulse, again applying the exit DC potential at the exit at the first magnitude for a second confinement period of a second duration different from the first duration;

during the second confinement period, reacting the collision/reaction gas with second interfering ions that interfere with the second analyte ions, or reacting the collision/reaction gas with the second analyte ions, to suppress interference;

after the second confinement period, transmitting a second pulse to the mass spectrometer by switching the exit DC potential to the second magnitude; and

measuring the second analyte ions or product ions formed from the second analyte ions that are contained in the second pulse.

14. The method of claim 13 , comprising selecting the first duration based on the chemical identity of the first analyte ion and the first interfering ion; and the second duration based on the chemical identity of the second analyte ion and the second interfering ion.

15. The method of claim 13 , comprising flowing the collision/reaction gas into the collision/reaction cell during the first confinement period at a flow rate, and flowing the collision/reaction gas into the collision/reaction cell during the second confinement period at the same flow rate.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the collision/reaction gas is selected from the group consisting of: helium; neon; argon; hydrogen; oxygen; water; air; ammonia; methane; fluoromethane; nitrous oxide; and a combination of two or more of the foregoing.

17. The method of claim 1 , comprising at least one of the following features:

the analyte ions are selected from the group consisting of: positive monatomic ions of a metal or other element except for a rare gas; and product ions produced by reacting the collision/reaction gas with positive monatomic ions of a metal or other element except for a rare gas;

the interfering ions are selected from the group consisting of: positive argon ions; polyatomic ions containing argon; doubly-charged ions containing a component of the sample; isobaric ions containing a component of the sample; and polyatomic ions containing a component of the sample.

18. A method for analyzing a sample, the method comprising:

producing analyte ions from the sample; and

operating a collision/reaction cell according to the method of claim 1 , wherein:

the analyte ions produced from the sample are transmitted into the collision/reaction cell; and

the transmitting the analyte ions or the product ions to the mass spectrometer comprises transmitting the analyte ions or the product ions into a mass analyzer of the mass spectrometer.

19. An inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) system, comprising:

an ion source configured to generate plasma and produce analyte ions in the plasma;

a collision/reaction cell comprising an entrance, an exit and a multipole ion guide positioned between the entrance and the exit;

a mass spectrometer; and

a controller comprising an electronic processor and a memory, and configured to control an operation comprising:

flowing a collision/reaction gas into the collision/reaction cell;

transmitting ions through the entrance and into the collision/reaction cell, wherein the ions comprise analyte ions and interfering ions;

applying an exit DC potential at the exit at a first magnitude to generate a DC potential barrier effective to prevent the ions from exiting the collision/reaction cell;

maintaining the exit DC potential at the first magnitude during a confinement period to perform an interaction effective to suppress interfering ion signal intensity as measured by the mass spectrometer, the interaction selected from the group consisting of: reacting the interfering ions with the collision/reaction gas according to a reaction effective to convert the interfering ions to non-interfering ions or to neutral species; and reacting the analyte ions with the collision/reaction gas according to a reaction effective to produce product ions;

after the confinement period, transmitting the analyte ions or the product ions to the mass spectrometer by switching the exit DC potential to a second magnitude effective to allow the analyte ions or the product ions to pass through the exit as a pulse having a pulse duration; and

measuring the analyte ions or the product ions for a measurement period having a duration approximately equal to the pulse duration.