Quadrupole ion trap

Not to be confused with Quadrupole mass analyzer.
Scheme of a quadrupole ion trap of classical setup with a particle of positive charge (dark red), surrounded by a cloud of similarly charged particles (light red). The electric field E (blue) is generated by a quadrupole of endcaps (a, positive) and a ring electrode (b). Picture 1 and 2 show two states during an AC cycle.

In experimental physics, a quadrupole ion trap or paul trap is a type of ion trap that uses dynamic electric fields to trap charged particles. They are also called radio frequency (RF) traps or Paul traps in honor of Wolfgang Paul, who invented the device[1][2] and shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1989 for this work.[3] It is used as a component of a mass spectrometer or a trapped ion quantum computer.

  1. ^ Paul W., Steinwedel H. (1953). "Ein neues Massenspektrometer ohne Magnetfeld". RZeitschrift für Naturforschung A 8 (7): 448-450
  2. ^ DE 944900  "Verfahren zur Trennung bzw. zum getrennten Nachweis von Ionen verschiedener spezifischer Ladung", W. Paul and H. Steinwedel, filed on December 24, 1953, priority December 23, 1953
  3. ^ Wolfgang Paul (1990). "Electromagnetic traps for charged and neutral particles". Reviews of Modern Physics. 62 (3): 531–540. Bibcode:1990RvMP...62..531P. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.62.531.