Over the past couple of months, the Johnson group has made some pretty major strides in the lab!
Our next generation machine, dubbed “the mini-machine” has come on-line. Even at a fraction of the size of our other instruments, the mini-machine can get down to comparable pressures and has great mass spec resolution, proving that “bigger isn’t always better”! The mini-machine has also been used to test new capabilities, including a new way to record both mass and vibrational spectra using a PicoScope which allows us to bypass our old LeCroy o-scopes and boxcars.
T2 has also had some big changes recently. A second retro-reflectron was added to the back of the machine in order to give T2 double resonance capabilities. Additionally, one of our old imagers has been reinstalled onto the end of T2 and is now used to image the ion beam after it passes through the length of the machine. It makes it readily apparent how much the enizel lenses and deflectors affect the beam’s trajectory!
Not to be left out, Tinman has also gotten a new capability! A make-shift glove box has been added to the front end in order to better store and prepare air sensitive samples.