Agilent Triple Quadrupole MS and Sensitivity 3
LC/MS ion sources
Agilent 6400 Series Triple Quad LC/MS Concepts Guide 49
The capillary in the 6460A is a resistive capillary that improves
ion transmission and allows virtually instantaneous polarity
switching. It is the same, proven capillary that is used in the
fast polarity switching version of Agilent's single quadrupole
product.
LC/MS ion sources
Agilent provides a choice of four ion sources to use with its
triple quadrupole mass spectrometer: ESI, APCI, APPI and MMI.
You can also use the HPLC-Chip.
This section describes how the different ion sources affect
sensitivity.
ESI ion source design
The orthogonal source reduces the introduction of unwanted
sample components that interfere with analysis. The advanced
nebulizer design produces a uniform droplet size, which
ensures maximum sensitivity. Since the source is at ground, the
source is safe to use and has the advantage of reducing solvent
cluster background (Figure 23).
Figure 23 Orthogonal introduction and electrospray ionization