This paper describes the real-time mass spectrometry of individual aerosol particles using an ion trap mass spectrometer. The airborne particulates, injected directly into the ion trap from the air, are detected by two-fiber-optic based particle detectors mounted above the ion trap electrode. The measured velocity of the incoming particle is used to predict the arrival time and to fire a Nd-YAG laser so that the desorption laser pulse can intercept the fast moving particle at the center of the ion trap. Real-time analysis of airborne potassium nitrate particles with a size of 15 μm has been achieved.
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Yang et al. (1996) studied this question.