Mass spectrometry with cryogenic detectors

Cryogenic detectors have recently been applied for the first time as ion detectors in time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS). Because of their energy sensitivity cryogenic detectors are expected to have near 100% efficiency even for very large, slow-moving molecules, in contrast to microchannel plates whose efficiency drops considerably at large mass. Thus, cryogenic detectors could contribute to extending the mass range accessible by TOF-MS and help improving detection limits. In addition, the energy resolution provided by cryogenic detectors can be used for charge discrimination and studies of ion fragmentation, ion-detector interaction, and internal energies of large molecular ions. Cryogenic detectors could therefore prove to be a valuable diagnostic tool in TOF-MS. Here I summarize the results of recent demonstration experiments.