High mass resolution with a new variable anharmonicity Penning trap

Abstract

A modified Penning trap has been developed and shown to yield 100 times narrower axial resonance linewidths on electrons than that of a previous unmodified Penning trap. An extra pair of electrodes is inserted in the standard trap configuration, which effectively nulls the quartic term in the trapping potential. With existing signal‐to‐noise limitations, an axial frequency resolution of 0.02 ppm can be obtained. This device is particularly attractive to high‐resolution mass spectrometry.