Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Design and Implementation of an Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer Data Acquisition System for Atmospheric Molecule Identification

Version 1 : Received: 24 April 2023 / Approved: 25 April 2023 / Online: 25 April 2023 (10:29:05 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Wang, W.; Li, Y. Design and Implementation of an Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer Data Acquisition System for Atmospheric Molecule Identification. Electronics 2023, 12, 2387. Wang, W.; Li, Y. Design and Implementation of an Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer Data Acquisition System for Atmospheric Molecule Identification. Electronics 2023, 12, 2387.

Abstract

Orbitrap mass spectrometers have been widely used in environmental component analysis . This paper presents an enhanced data acquisition system for in-situ detection of Orbitrap mass spectrometry, which enables in-suit real-time signal processing and analysis for atmospheric molecules with small mass numbers.During previous space atmospheric explorations, quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS) was usually utilized for analyzing isotopic compositions and complicated compounds in the mixture. However, the inevitable ion scattering and drift during mass transfer, as well as the QMS attenuator loss, result in a relatively lower signal-to-noise ratio of the produced mass spectrum. In recent years, a novel mass spectrometer, called an Orbitrap mass spectrometer, has been gradually accepted and used because of its non-destructive detection ability, high mass resolution, and accuracy. Nevertheless, Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) is preferred over the Orbitrap mass spectrometry for ground applications, especially for detecting low-mass components (e.g. below 50 atomic mass units) due to the former’s superior resolution. As the mass number decreases, the detection system demands a higher sampling and processing rate. Additionally, in ground-based scenarios, mass spectrometry analysis software on computers is often employed to analyze the signals. Therefore, in order to achieve in-situ detection of the space atmospheric environment using the Orbitrap mass spectrometer, this paper proposes a real-time signal acquisition and processing system for mass spectrometry analysis. The system comprises of signal conditioning circuits, analog-to-digital conversion circuits, programmable logic circuits, and related software. These components perform spectrum analysis and process the signal in real-time on hardware components, allowing for high-speed acquisition and analysis of the signals produced by the Orbitrap mass spectrometer.

Keywords

data acquisition; Orbitrap mass spectrometry; spectrum analysis; FPGA; FFT analysis

Subject

Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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