METHODS FOR DETECTING A SPECTRUM OF AN ION SPECIES, FOR SEGREGATING A MIXTURE OF A PLURALITY OF ION SPECIES, AND FOR DETERMINING A MIXTURE RATIO OF THE MIXTURE

Application No. 18/703,581

• Filed: Apr 22, 2024
• Priority: Oct 22, 2021 — DE 10 2021 127 556.3
  • Oct 14, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTEP2022078664
• Examiner: LUCK, SEAN M
• Assignee: UNIVERSITÄT ZU KÖLN
• OA Round: 1 (Non-Final)

Office Action

Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –

(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.

Claim(s) 1-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hager US 6177668 B1.
Regarding Claim(s) 1, Hager teaches: Method for detecting a spectrum of an ion species, the method comprising the steps of:
a) capturing a subset of ions comprising the ion species in an ion trap; (Hager Col. 3 line(s) 1 - 45)
b) thermalizing the ions captured in the ion trap by a buffer gas; (Hager Col. 3 line(s) 1 - 45)
c) exciting the thermalized ions in the ion trap by electromagnetic radiation such that a kinetic energy of the ion species in the ion trap changes; and (Hager Col. 3 line(s) 1 - 45)
d) detecting the ions leaving the ion trap and/or detecting the ions remaining in the ion trap via a detector. (Hager Col. 3 line(s) 1 - 45)

Regarding Claim(s) 2, Hager teaches: wherein in step c) the mass of the ion species does not change and/or no chemical reaction of the ion species with the buffer gas and/or a reaction partner takes place. (Hager Col. 3 line(s) 1 - 45)

Regarding Claim(s) 3, Hager teaches: wherein in step c) an energetic transition of the ion species is excited by the electromagnetic radiation. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 4, Hager teaches: wherein step c) comprises converting internal energy of the ion species into kinetic energy of the ion species. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 5, Hager teaches: wherein step c) comprises increasing internal energy of the ion species by excitation via electromagnetic radiation and converting the increased internal energy of the ion species into kinetic energy of the ion species by collisions of the ion species with the buffer gas and/or a further buffer gas. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 6, Hager teaches: wherein in step b) the ions captured in the ion trap are thermalized in such a way, and in step c) are excited by electromagnetic radiation in such a way, that after excitation by electromagnetic radiation an internal energy of the ion species is higher than a kinetic energy of the ion species after thermalization. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 7, Hager teaches: wherein in step a) a subset of mass-selected ions comprising the ion species is captured in the ion trap. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 8, Hager teaches: wherein in step a), for capturing the subset of ions, a storage potential of the ion trap is selected such that the ion species with changed kinetic energy leaves the ion trap. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 9, Hager teaches: wherein in step d) a mass setting of the detector corresponds to the mass of the ion species. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 10, Hager teaches: wherein the method comprises the steps of e) removing all ions from the ion trap; and f) repeating steps a) to e) with further subsets of the ions, wherein during the repetition in step c) the electromagnetic radiation has each time a different frequency than before. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 11, Hager teaches: wherein step d) comprises detecting the ions leaving the ion trap and/or detecting the ions remaining in the ion trap via the detector as a function of the excitation frequency. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 12, Hager teaches: Method of demixing a mixture of two or more ion species with equal mass-to-charge ratio, the method comprising the steps of:
a) capturing the ions comprising the mixture of two or more ion species with equal mass-to-charge ratio in an ion trap; (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)
b) thermalizing the ions captured in the ion trap by a buffer gas; and (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)
c) exciting exactly one ion species of the mixture of the thermalized ions in the ion trap by electromagnetic radiation such that a kinetic energy of this ion species in the ion trap changes, (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)
wherein in step a), in order to capture the ions comprising the mixture, a storage potential of the ion trap is selected such that all particles of the ion species excited in step c) leave the ion trap after carrying out step c). (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 13, Hager teaches: Method of determining a mixing ratio of a mixture of two or more ion species with equal mass-to-charge ratio, the method comprising the steps of: a) capturing the ions comprising the mixture of two or more ion species with equal mass-to-charge ratio in an ion trap; b) thermalizing the ions captured in the ion trap by a buffer gas; c) exciting exactly one ion species of the mixture of the thermalized ions in the ion trap by electromagnetic radiation such that a kinetic energy of this ion species in the ion trap changes; and d) detecting the ions leaving the ion trap and/or detecting the ions remaining in the ion trap by means of a detector, wherein in step a), in order to capture the ions comprising the mixture, a storage potential of the ion trap is selected such that particles of the ion species excited in step c) leave the ion trap after step c) has been carried out. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 14, Hager teaches: comprising the step of e) determining whether a transition frequency belongs to a different ion species of the mixture than the ion species excited in step c) by irradiating electromagnetic radiation having a different frequency than that used for excitation in step c). (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 15, Hager teaches: comprising an ion trap, wherein the ion trap comprises a plurality of electrodes for generating a radio frequency field, and wherein the electrodes are arranged in a multipole electrode configuration, wherein the device comprises a ring electrode arranged around the ion trap. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Regarding Claim(s) 16, Hager teaches: comprising a further ion trap, wherein the first ion trap and the further ion trap are interconnected such that ions leaving the first ion trap are collected in the further ion trap. (Hager Col. 11 line(s) 15 – Col. 12 Lines(s) 29)

Conclusion
1. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN LUCK whose telephone number is [phone]. The examiner can normally be reached 8-5 M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Georgia Epps can be reached at [phone]. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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SEAN LUCK
Examiner
Art Unit 2878

/SEAN LUCK/Examiner, Art Unit 2878

Prosecution Timeline

• Apr 22, 2024: Application Filed
• Jun 29, 2026: Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)