13
Agilent Technologies
Agilent 6400 Series Triple Quadrupole LC/MS System  
Concepts Guide
2
Inner Workings – Triple Quadrupole MS 
versus Single Quadrupole MS
Single quadrupole MS operation 14
Design for a single quadrupole mass spectrometer  14
How a single quadrupole mass spectrometer works 15
Triple quadrupole MS operation  21
Design of the Agilent Triple Quadrupole MS 21
How a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer works 27
Innovative Enhancements in the 6490 Triple Quadrupole  23
Innovative Enhancements in the 6460 Triple Quadrupole  25
Innovative Enhancements in the 6430 Triple Quadrupole  27
How Dynamic MRM works 30
How Triggered Dynamic MRM works 33
In this chapter you learn about concepts to help you understand 
the inner workings of the Agilent 6400 Series Triple Quadrupole 
LC/MS.
The foundation for understanding the operation of a triple 
quadrupole mass spectrometer is the operation of a single 
quadrupole mass spectrometer. Therefore, an explanation of the 
workings of a single quadrupole mass spectrometer is presented 
first.