SPEC PerkinElmer 10.13
Logo Image
|Articles|May 14, 2012

New Research Confirms the Practical Applicability of Absorption-Mode in FT-ICR Mass Spectrometry

In a new study, scientists at the University of Warwick (Coventry, UK) present the results of the analysis of petroleum and protein samples to demonstrate the applicability of the absorption-mode in Fourier Transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) to routine experiments.

In a new study, scientists at the University of Warwick (Coventry, UK) present the results of the analysis of petroleum and protein samples to demonstrate the applicability of the absorption-mode in Fourier Transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) to routine experiments.

The new study follows two papers published last year by the same team, led by Professor Peter B. O’Conner. Those papers explained that the resolving power of FT-ICR-MS could be enhanced up to a factor of two by phasing the raw data accurately and plotting them in the pure absorption mode, which had been a long-standing problem for almost 40 years.

Through the analysis of crude oil and top-down protein spectra, the new study provides empirical evidence confirming that the absorption mode, in addition to improving the resolving power compared to the conventional magnitude mode, improves the signal-to-noise ratio of a spectrum by 1.4-fold and can improve the mass accuracy up to 2-fold, throughout the entire m/z range, without any additional cost in instrumentation.

The paper, “Absorption-Mode: The Next Generation of Fourier-Transform Mass Spectra,” was published on February 17 in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

Related to this article

View more
FACSS 2026 Award Interviews © Erin -chronicles-stock.adobe.com
SciX 2026 Award Winners: The Conversations Coming Next
Eight FACSS award winners at SciX 2026, One LIBS trailblazer. Forty-eight questions. And not one of them is a softball. Award season in spectroscopy usually means polite applause, a plaque, and a photo. We're not completely interested only in the award sessions. The eight scientists honored at SciX 2026 in Sparks, Nevada, along with LIBS researcher Alessandro De Giacomo, are pushing Raman into operating rooms, flying LIBS on drones, reading chemistry off Mars, and tracing toxic metals downwind of industrial sites. Their work makes big claims. In the coming days, Spectroscopy will sit down with eight of these researchers and ask whether those claims hold up. The interviews that follow won't just celebrate. They'll press on the gaps between simulation and experiment, between the lab bench and the clinic, and between a clever paper and an instrument someone will actually buy and use.
Read more
Spectral Frontiers: Past the Diffraction Limit (FT-IR Spectroscopy)
Past the Diffraction Limit: How Photothermal and Quantum Cascade Lasers Are Reinventing FT-IR Spectroscopy
Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, long the workhorse of molecular fingerprinting, is being reinvented by photothermal detection schemes and quantum cascade laser (QCL) sources that push spatial resolution and analysis speed far beyond classical dispersive and interferometric limits. New instrumentation such as optical photothermal infrared (O-PTIR) microscopy and laser direct infrared (LDIR) chemical imaging is enabling sub-micron, label-free chemical mapping of biological, environmental, and pharmaceutical samples. This article reviews the latest FT-IR-adjacent technologies, recent patents, and research driving the field, featuring perspectives from the scientists and instrument developers advancing the technique.
Read more