ON TIME FOCUSING AND PHASE-SPACE DYNAMICS IN TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS-SPECTROMETER DESIGN

General considerations regarding time focusing and time resolution in time-of-flight mass spectrometers are presented from a phase space dynamics point of view. A time-focusing equation is found in which time is the central variable rather than a parameter. The one-dimensional form of the equation is used in the derivation of a time dispersion relation. The relationship between the time dispersion and the incompressibility of particles in phase space gives an alternative way of conceptualizing particle motion in time-of-flight mass spectrometers. Designs of current time-of-flight mass spectrometers and approaches to improving these designs are then discussed in terms of these developments.