First principles optimization of mass producible microscaled linear quadrupoles for operation in higher stability regions

In recent years, there has been a desire to scale down linear quadrupoles. The key advantages of this miniaturization are the portability it enables, and the reduction of pump-power needed due to the relaxation on operational pressure. Various attempts at making linear quadrupoles on the micro-scale were met with varying degrees of success. This study was proposed to justify the work for a fully microfabricated, mass-producible, MEMS linear quadrupole mass filter. The study indicates that a MEMS quadrupole with square electrodes can function as a mass filter without significant degradation in performance if driven in higher stability regions. Successful implementation of such devices leads into arrayed configurations for parallel analysis, and aligned quadrupoles operated in tandem for enhanced resolution.