INFLUENCE OF COOLING TIME ON THE INTERNAL ENERGY OF IONS SUBJECTED TO RESONANCE EXCITATION IN A QUADRUPOLE ION-TRAP

This study demonstrates the influence of cooling time, applied prior to (and after) resonance excitation, on the internal energy carried by ions subjected to tickle excitation. Competitive fragmentations of ionized butylbenzene have been used to estimate the internal energy average transferred during collision processes. Two competitive effects have been observed by using a delay time before tickle: kinetic energy relaxation (up to 15 ms) related to an internal energy decrease effect and, at higher cooling time values, collisional excitation with helium buffer gas allows one to increase the internal energy of precursor ions.