Time resolved laser-induced fluorescence of electrosprayed ions confined in a linear quadrupole trap

We have designed and constructed a linear quadrupole ion trap for the measurement of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) of mass selected gas-phase ions produced by electrospray ionization. The instrument consists of a simple electrospray source, radiofrequency octopole guide, a dc quadrupole bender, a quadrupole mass filter, the linear quadrupole trap (which is equipped with optics for LIF collection and a channeltron ion detector), and several multielement focusing lenses. With this instrument, the LIF decay lifetime of gas-phase Rhodamine 640 radical cations is determined for the first time.