In this work, a "brick" size miniature mass spectrometer (28 cm × 21 cm × 16 cm) was developed and characterized, which was enabled by the development of a new frequency scanning technique. Different from the conventional voltage scanning method or the digital waveforms used on a digital ion trap, a sinusoidal frequency scanning technique was developed to drive the linear ion trap of the brick mass spectrometer (BMS). Both an in-vacuum plasma ionization source and an electrospray ionization source were coupled with this BMS for the analyses of volatile and nonvolatile samples. Stability diagram, sensitivity, mass resolution, and mass range of the BMS were explored. This new frequency scanning technique could not only reduce the size and power consumption of a miniature mass spectrometer but also improve its analytical performances, especially in terms of mass range and resolution. Analogous to the development of cell phones, this BMS would be an important step from "brick" mass spectrometer to "cell" mass spectrometer.

With the increasing demands of molecular structure analysis, several methods have been developed to measure ion collision cross sections within Fourier transform (FT) based mass analyzers. Particularly in the recent three years since 2012, the method of obtaining biomolecule collision cross sections was achieved in Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) cells. Furthermore, similar methods have been realized or proposed for orbitraps and quadrupole ion traps. This technique adds a new ion structure analysis capability to FT-based mass analyzers. By providing complementary ion structure information, it could be used together with tandem mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectroscopy techniques. Although many questions and challenges remain, this technique potentially would greatly enhance the ion structure analysis capability of a mass spectrometer, and provide a new tool for chemists and biochemists.