Acceleration Slits
Definition and meaning of Acceleration Slits in chemistry.
Acceleration slits are narrow apertures in a mass spectrometer that shape and confine the ion beam as ions are accelerated by a voltage on their way into the analyzer.
In more detail
Ions formed in the ion source must be accelerated and formed into a narrow, well-defined beam before they can be separated. The acceleration slits do this shaping while the ions pass through the accelerating voltage. Passing through that voltage gives each ion a kinetic energy equal to its charge multiplied by the voltage; because lighter ions then travel faster than heavier ones, the beam can be separated by mass-to-charge ratio.
Key facts
| Purpose | Shape and confine the accelerated ion beam |
|---|---|
| Typical voltage | Hundreds to thousands of volts |
| Used in | Mass spectrometry |
| Field | Analytical Chemistry |
In a magnetic-sector mass spectrometer, ions pass through acceleration slits at several kilovolts before entering the magnetic field that separates them by mass.
Frequently asked questions
What do acceleration slits do in a mass spectrometer?
They confine ions into a narrow, well-defined beam as those ions are accelerated by a voltage, so the beam can then be cleanly separated by mass-to-charge ratio.