E-Mail IMAGE: Skoltech scientists pin hopes on a new ion trap to create the world's most accurate mass spectrometer view more Credit: Evgeny Nikolaev and Anton Lioznov/Skoltech Mass spectrometers are widely used to analyze highly complex chemical and biological mixtures. Skoltech scientists have developed a new version of a mass spectrometer that uses rotation frequencies of ionized molecules in strong magnetic fields to measure masses with higher accuracy (FT ICR). The team has designed an ion trap that ensures the utmost resolving power in ultra-strong magnetic fields. The research was published in the journal Analytical Chemistry. The ion trap is shaped like a cylinder made up of electrodes, with electric and magnetic fields generated inside. The exact masses of the test sample's ions can be determined from their rotation frequencies. The electrodes must create a harmonized field of a particular shape such that the ions rotate predictably. A trap with such a field is called a Dynamically Harmonized Cell (DHC).