PImMS, or Pixel Imaging Mass Spectrometry, is a novel high-speed monolithic CMOS imaging sensor tailored to mass spectrometry requirements, also suitable for other dark-field applications. In its application to time-of-flight mass spectrometry, the sensor permits ion arrival time distributions to be combined with 2D imaging, providing additional information about the initial position or velocity of ions under study. PImMS1, the first generation sensor in this family, comprises an array of 72 by 72 pixels on a 70 µm by 70 µm pitch. Pixels independently record digital timestamps when events occur over an adjustable threshold. Each pixel contains 4 memories to record timestamps at a resolution of 25 ns. The sensor was designed and manufactured in the IN-MAPS 0.18 µm process. This allows the inclusion of significant amounts of circuitry (over 600 transistors) within each pixel while maintaining good detection efficiency. We present an overview of the pixel and sensor architecture, explain its functioning and present test results, ranging from characterisation of the analogue front end of the pixel, to verification of its digital functions, to some first images captured on mass spectrometers. We conclude with an overview of the upcoming second generation of PImMS sensors.

The traditional formalism of non-relativistic quantum theory allows the state of a quantum system to extend across space, but only restricts it to a single instant in time, leading to distinction between theoretical treatments of spatial and temporal quantum correlations. Here we unify the geometrical description of two-point quantum correlations in space-time. Our study presents the geometry of correlations between two sequential Pauli measurements on a single qubit undergoing an arbitrary quantum channel evolution together with two-qubit spatial correlations under a common framework. We establish a symmetric structure between quantum correlations in space and time. This symmetry is broken in the presence of non-unital channels, which further reveals a set of temporal correlations that are indistinguishable from correlations found in bipartite entangled states.

The capacity of a channel is known to be equivalent to the highest rate at which it can generate entanglement. Analogous to entanglement, the notion of a causality measure characterises the temporal aspect of quantum correlations. Despite holding an equally fundamental role in physics, temporal quantum correlations have yet to find their operational significance in quantum communication. Here we uncover a connection between quantum causality and channel capacity. We show the amount of temporal correlations between two ends of the noisy quantum channel, as quantified by a causality measure, implies a general upper bound on its channel capacity. The expression of this new bound is simpler to evaluate than most previously known bounds. We demonstrate the utility of this bound by applying it to a class of shifted depolarizing channels, which results in improvement over previously calculated bounds for this class of channels.