High resolution time-of-flight spectrometry

Resolution of time-of-flight spectrometers is limited by the temporal distribution of analyzed ions at the detector. The major sources of this temporal distribution are the initial temporal, spatial, and velocity distributions of the ions. Details of how these initial distributions affect resolution is discussed, along with techniques to improve resolution by compensating for these effects. Particular emphasis is given to methods which are applicable to analysis of beams extracted from electron beam ion sources (EBISs).