# High-stability, high-voltage power supplies for use with multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrographs

## TL;DR

This paper presents a programmable high-voltage power supply with ppm-level stability suitable for multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometers, enabling high mass resolution and stable measurements over extended periods.

## Contribution

The authors develop and demonstrate a high-stability, high-voltage power supply with long-term ppm-level stability, applicable up to 15 kV, for improved mass spectrometry performance.

## Key findings

- Achieves 1 ppm stability over one hour at ≤1 Hz band
- Maintains ppm-level stability over three days
- Ensures stable time-of-flight measurements for at least one hour

## Abstract

Achieving the highest possible mass resolving power in a multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer requires very high-stability power supplies. To this end, we have developed a programmable high-voltage power supply that can achieve long-term stability on the order of parts-per-million. Herein we present the design of the stable high-voltage system and bench-top stability measurements up to 1~kV; the stabilization technique can, in principle, be applied up to 15~kV or more.. We demonstrate that in the $\le$1~Hz band the output stability is on the level of 1~part per million (ppm) during one hour, with only slightly more output variation across 3 days. We further demonstrate that the output is largely free of noise in the 1~Hz -- 200~Hz band. We also demonstrate settling to the ppm level within one minute following a 100~V step transition. Finally, we demonstrate that when these power supplies are used to bias the electrodes of a multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrograph the measured time-of-flight is stable on the ppm-level for at least one hour.