ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the detection system an important area of the mass spectrometer that detects and quantifies the number of ions emerging from the mass analyzer. The detector converts the ions into electrical pulses, which are then counted using its integrated measurement circuitry. The chapter looks at conventional dynode detection, which monitors discrete ions emerging from the mass separation device in a sequential manner, in addition to describing the new breed of array detectors, which can monitor the entire mass spectrum simultaneously. One of the approaches to extending the dynamic range in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was to filter the ion beam. However, a new breed of ion detectors have recently been developed that are based on solid-state, direct charge arrays, similar to collision-induced dissociation/charge coupled device technology used in ICP optical emission.
