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Technical Note: Description and Use of the New Jump Mass Spectrum Mode of...

Crosier, J., J. Jimenez-Palacios, J. D. Allan, K. N. Bower, P. I. Williams, M. R. Alfarra, M. R. Canagaratna, J. T. Jayne, D. Worsnop, and H. Coe (2007), Technical Note: Description and Use of the New Jump Mass Spectrum Mode of Operation for the Aerodyne Quadrupole Aerosol Mass Spectrometers (Q-AMS), Aerosol Science and Technology, 41, 865-872, doi:10.1080/02786820701501899.
Abstract: 

A new mode of operation for the Aerodyne Quadrupole Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (Q-AMS) has been developed and used to improve the detection limits and time resolution of the instrument. The Jump Mass Spectrum (JMS) mode works by stepping through a small number of specific user defined positions within the mass spectrum, increasing the time spent scanning specific m/z’s. The JMS mode is conceptually similar to the “Selected Ion Monitoring” mode of some commercial quadrupole-based instrumentation and can be used for direct quantification when the fragmentation pattern is known. The JMS mode can also be used to augment the standard Q-AMS operation in Mass Spectrum mode when the fragmentation pattern is not known, improving the effective signalto-noise ratio (SNR) and in turn the detection limits and time resolution. A decrease in detection limits for the Q-AMS by factors of 4.6, 3.9, 1.3, and 3.5 for nitrate, sulphate, total organics, and m/z 43 mass loadings respectively was achieved for 1 minute sampling (20 s in each of the three Q-AMS modes, monitoring 10 m/z in JMS mode). Although the benefit to the SNR of the total organic mass

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Research Program: 
Tropospheric Composition Program (TCP)