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Abstract

In mass spectrometry the masses of atoms or molecules in a large mass range up to a few thousand atomic mass units nowadays are determined by the so-called Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance (FT-ICR) method. The mass can be measured within a few seconds with a high-precision of about 1ppm. Furthermore, ion species with a low abundance of a few thousand ions can be detected. In this thesis the commissioning and the characterization of such an FT-ICR mass spectrometer will be presented. The experiment is installed at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. The mass spectrometer is constructed in such a way that various detection and excitation schemes can be investigated. Results concerning the one- and two-pulse quadrupolar excitation schemes are presented. Since many ions are trapped simultaneously, space charge effects play a crucial role. The observed phenomena like shielding of excitation fields and ionion interaction are discussed. Here, many particle simulations are performed to understand the observed phenomena. Furthermore, accuracy and precision limit studies of this mass spectrometer are discussed.