Interferometric mass spectrometry

Abstract

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is a widely-used technique with multiple applications, including geology, molecular biology and archeology. In order to achieve a high dynamic range, AMS requires tandem accelerators and large magnets, which thus confines it to big laboratories. Here we propose interferometric mass spectrometry (Interf-MS), a novel method of mass separation which uses quantum interference. Interf-MS employs the wave-like properties of the samples, and as such is complementary to AMS, in which samples are particle-like. This complementarity has two significant consequences: (i) in Interf-MS separation is performed according to the absolute mass $m$, and not to the mass-to-charge ratio $m/q$, as in AMS; (ii) in Interf-MS the samples are in the low-velocity regime, in contrast to the high-velocity regime used in AMS. Potential applications of Interf-MS are compact devices for mobile applications, sensitive molecules that break at the acceleration stage and neutral samples which are difficult to ionise.

Updated to the published version, J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 2023

References in corpus (3)

• A Kapitza-Dirac-Talbot-Lau interferometer for highly polarizable molecules
• Sorting photons by radial quantum number
• Bragg diffraction of large organic molecules

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Quantum communication networks with optical vortices