Mass spectrometer

1. A drive unit for an acceleration electrode of a mass spectrometer, the drive unit comprising:

a power converter comprising a switching element; and

pulsing circuitry operable to form electrical output pulses from an output of the power converter for an acceleration electrode of a mass spectrometer;

wherein the drive unit is configured such that the switching element is operated in synchronisation with the pulsing circuitry.

2. The drive unit of claim 1 , wherein the power converter comprises a step-up converter.

3. The drive unit of claim 1 wherein the pulsing circuitry comprises a changeover switch.

4. The drive unit of claim 1 , comprising control circuitry configured to synchronise the switching element with the pulsing circuitry.

5. The drive unit of claim 1 , wherein:

the drive unit is configured such that the output pulses are formed periodically with a period T pulse ;

the drive unit is configured such that the switching element is switched periodically with a period T switch ; and

T switch =T pulse .

6. The drive unit of claim 1 , wherein the drive unit is configured to cause the switching element to be switched after a predetermined time delay T delay following formation of an output pulse.

7. The drive unit of claim 1 , wherein the drive unit is configured to control the switching element and the pulsing circuitry using the same clock signal.

8. The drive unit of claim 1 , wherein the drive unit is configured to cause gate pulses to be applied to a gate electrode of the switching element in synchronisation with the pulsing circuitry.

9. The drive unit of claim 8 , wherein the drive unit is configured to control the power converter by controlling the width of the gate pulses applied to the gate electrode of the switching element.

10. The drive unit of claim 8 , wherein the drive unit is configured to cause the gate pulses to be applied to the gate electrode of the switching element at a selected rate for a selected time period in response to a change in a desired parameter for the electrical output pulses.

11. The drive unit of claim 10 , wherein the parameter for the electrical output pulses comprises: (i) a voltage amplitude; (ii) a voltage polarity; (iii) a pulse period; (iv) a pulse width; and/or (v) an inter-pulse period; of the electrical output pulses.

12. The drive unit of claim 1 , further comprising:

processing circuitry configured to predict the effect of a change in a desired parameter for the electrical output pulses on an output voltage of the power converter; and

control circuitry configured to control the power converter based on the prediction.

13. The drive unit of claim 1 , further comprising an oscilloscope, wherein the drive unit is configured such that electrical output pulses produced by the drive unit are supplied to the oscilloscope.

14. The drive unit of claim 1 , further comprising:

measuring circuitry configured to measure an output voltage of the power converter; and

control circuitry configured to control the power converter based on the measured output voltage.

15. The drive unit of claim 1 , further comprising:

measuring circuitry configured to measure an input voltage to the power converter; and

control circuitry configured to control the power converter based on the measured input voltage.

16. A mass spectrometer comprising:

a Time of Flight (ToF) mass analyser comprising an acceleration electrode; and

the drive unit of claim 1 ;

wherein the mass spectrometer is configured such that electrical output pulses produced by the drive unit are supplied to the acceleration electrode.

17. A method of mass spectrometry comprising:

forming electrical output pulses for an acceleration electrode of a mass spectrometer; and

operating a switching element of a power converter of the mass spectrometer in synchronisation with the electrical output pulses.