ultrasensitive mass spectrometry

ultrasensitive mass spectrometry

[¦əl·trə′sen·səd·iv ′mas spek′träm·ə·trē] (analytical chemistry) A form of mass spectrometry in which the ions to be detected are accelerated to megaelectronvolt energies in a particle accelerator and passed through a thin gas cell or foil, stripping away outer electrons, so that contaminating molecules dissociate into lower-mass fragments, and isobars can be distinguished by particle detectors that measure ionization rate and total energy.