ABSTRACT
Mass spectrometers, using separation based on velocity focusing and magnetic deflection, were first developed more than 80 years ago, primarily to investigate isotopic abundances and calculate atomic weights. Although quadrupole mass analyzers represent approximately 90% of all inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) systems installed worldwide, limitations in their resolving power have led to the development of high-resolution spectrometers based on the double-focusing magnetic sector design. Even though magnetic sector technology was the most common mass separation device for the analysis of inorganic compounds using traditional ion sources, it lost out to quadrupole technology when ICP-MS was first developed in the early 1980s. Initially, this technology was found to be unsuitable as a separation device for an ICP because of the high voltage required to accelerate the ions into the mass analyzer. The original concept of magnetic sector technology was to scan over a large mass range by varying the magnetic field over time with a fixed acceleration voltage.
