470 research outputs found
Scaling of the Resolving Power and Sensitivity for Planar FAIMS and Mobility-Based Discrimination in Flow- and Field-Driven Analyzers
Continuing development of the technology and applications of field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) calls for better understanding of its limitations and factors that govern them. While key performance metrics such as resolution and ion transmission have been calculated for specific cases employing numerical simulations, the underlying physical trends remained obscure. Here we determine that the resolving power of planar FAIMS scales as the square root of separation time and sensitivity drops exponentially at the rate controlled by absolute ion mobility and several instrument parameters. A strong dependence of ion transmission on mobility severely discriminates against species with higher mobility, presenting particular problems for analyses of complex mixtures. While the time evolution of resolution and sensitivity is virtually identical in existing FAIMS systems using gas flow and proposed devices driven by electric field, the distributions of separation times are not. The inverse correlation between mobility (and thus diffusion speed) and residence time for ions in field-driven FAIMS greatly reduces the mobility-based discrimination and provides much more uniform separations. Under typical operating conditions, the spread of elimination rates for commonly analyzed ions is reduced from >5 times in flow-driven to 1.6 times in field-driven FAIMS while the difference in resolving power decreases from ∼60% to ∼15%
Optimization of the design and operation of FAIMS analyzers
Field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) holds significant promise for post-ionization separations in conjunction with mass-spectrometric analyses. However, a limited understanding of fundamentals of FAIMS analyzers has made their design and operation largely an empirical exercise. Recently, we developed an a priori simulation of FAIMS that accounts for both ion diffusion (including anisotropic components) and Coulomb repulsion, and validated it by extensive comparisons with FAIMS/MS data. Here it is corroborated further by FAIMS-only measurements, and applied to explore how key instrumental parameters (analytical gap width and length, waveform frequency and profile, the identity and flow speed of buffer gas) affect FAIMS response. We find that the trade-off between resolution and sensitivity can be managed by varying gap width, RF frequency, and (in certain cases) buffer gas, with equivalent outcome. In particular, the resolving power can be approximately doubled compared to “typical” conditions. Throughput may be increased by either accelerating the gas flow (preferable) or shortening the device, but below certain minimum residence times performance deteriorates. Bisinusoidal and clipped-sinusoidal waveforms have comparable merit, but switching to rectangular waveforms would improve resolution and/or sensitivity. For any waveform profile, the ratio of two between voltages in high and low portions of the cycle produces the best performance
Conformal lattice of magnetic bubble domains in garnet film
We report experimental observations of magnetic bubble domain arrays with no
apparent translational symmetry. Additionally the results of comparative
numerical studies are discussed. Our goal is to present experimental evidence
for natural occurence of conformal structures.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX2e, accepted as paper E090 at JEMS'01 (Joint
European Magnetic Symposia, formerly EMMA + MRM), August 28th to September
1st, 2001, Grenoble, Franc
Concave and Convex photonic Barriers in Gradient Optics
Propagation and tunneling of light through photonic barriers formed by thin
dielectric films with continuous curvilinear distributions of dielectric
susceptibility across the film, are considered. Giant heterogeneity-induced
dispersion of these films, both convex and concave, and its influence on their
reflectivity and transmittivity are visualized by means of exact analytical
solutions of Maxwell equations. Depending on the cut-off frequency of the film,
governed by the spatial profile of its refractive index, propagation or
tunneling of light through such barriers are examined. Subject to the shape of
refractive index profile the group velocities of EM waves in these films are
shown to be either increased or deccreased as compared with the homogeneous
layers; however, these velocities for both propagation and tunneling regimes
remain subluminal. The decisive influence of gradient and curvature of photonic
barriers on the efficiency of tunneling is examined by means of generalized
Fresnel formulae. Saturation of the phase of the wave tunneling through a stack
of such films (Hartman effect), is demonstrated. The evanescent modes in lossy
barriers and violation of Hartman effect in this case is discussed
Recommendations for reporting ion mobility Mass Spectrometry measurements
Here we present a guide to ion mobility mass spectrometry experiments, which covers both linear and nonlinear methods: what is measured, how the measurements are done, and how to report the results, including the uncertainties of mobility and collision cross section values. The guide aims to clarify some possibly confusing concepts, and the reporting recommendations should help researchers, authors and reviewers to contribute comprehensive reports, so that the ion mobility data can be reused more confidently. Starting from the concept of the definition of the measurand, we emphasize that (i) mobility values (K0) depend intrinsically on ion structure, the nature of the bath gas, temperature, and E/N; (ii) ion mobility does not measure molecular surfaces directly, but collision cross section (CCS) values are derived from mobility values using a physical model; (iii) methods relying on calibration are empirical (and thus may provide method‐dependent results) only if the gas nature, temperature or E/N cannot match those of the primary method. Our analysis highlights the urgency of a community effort toward establishing primary standards and reference materials for ion mobility, and provides recommendations to do so. © 2019 The Authors. Mass Spectrometry Reviews Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Hydrodynamic flow of expanding Bose-Einstein condensates
We study expansion of quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)
after switching off the confining harmonic potential. Exact solution of
dynamical equations is obtained in framework of the hydrodynamic approximation
and it is compared with the direct numerical simulation of the full problem
showing excellent agreement at realistic values of physical parameters. We
analyze the maximum of the current density and estimate the velocity of
expansion. The results of the 1D analysis provides also qualitative
understanding of some properties of BEC expansion observed in experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX4. To appear in Physical Review
Thermodynamics of tin clusters
We report the results of detailed thermodynamic investigations of the
Sn cluster using density-functional molecular dynamics. These
simulations have been performed over a temperature range of 150 to 3000 K, with
a total simulation time of order 1 ns. The prolate ground state and low-lying
isomers consist of two tricapped trigonal prism (TTP) units stacked end to end.
The ionic specific heat, calculated via a multihistogram fit, shows a small
peak around 500 K and a shoulder around 850 K. The main peak occurs around 1200
K, about 700 K higher than the bulk melting temperature, but significantly
lower than that for Sn. The main peak is accompanied by a sharp change
in the prolate shape of the cluster due to the fusion of the two TTP units to
form a compact, near spherical structure with a diffusive liquidlike ionic
motion. The small peak at 500 K is associated with rearrangement processes
within the TTP units, while the shoulder at 850 K corresponds to distortion of
at least one TTP unit, preserving the overall prolate shape of the cluster. At
all temperatures observed, the bonding remains covalent.Comment: Latex File and EPS Figures. 18 pages,11 Figures. Submitted to Phys.
Rev.
Determination of the Carrier-Envelope Phase of Few-Cycle Laser Pulses with Terahertz-Emission Spectroscopy
The availability of few-cycle optical pulses opens a window to physical
phenomena occurring on the attosecond time scale. In order to take full
advantage of such pulses, it is crucial to measure and stabilise their
carrier-envelope (CE) phase, i.e., the phase difference between the carrier
wave and the envelope function. We introduce a novel approach to determine the
CE phase by down-conversion of the laser light to the terahertz (THz) frequency
range via plasma generation in ambient air, an isotropic medium where optical
rectification (down-conversion) in the forward direction is only possible if
the inversion symmetry is broken by electrical or optical means. We show that
few-cycle pulses directly produce a spatial charge asymmetry in the plasma. The
asymmetry, associated with THz emission, depends on the CE phase, which allows
for a determination of the phase by measurement of the amplitude and polarity
of the THz pulse
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