A hybrid mass analyzer is a mixture of two or more mass analyzers. If done correctly, a hybrid can couple the benefits of different mass analyzers.

qTOF

qTOF combines the stability of a quadrupole analyzer with the high efficiency, sensitivity, and accuracy of a TOF reflectron mass analyzer. The quadrupole can act as any simple quadrupole analyzer to scan across a specified m/z range. However, it can also be used to selectively isolate a precursor ion and direct that ion into the collision cell. The resultant fragment ions are then analyzed by the TOF reflectron mass analyzer.

qTOF exploits the quadrupole’s ability to select a particular ion and the ability of TOF to achieve simultaneous and accurate measurements of ions across full mass range. qTOF offers significantly higher sensitivity and accuracy over tandem quadrupole instruments when acquiring full fragment mass spectra.