What is a time-of-flight (TOF) mass analyser?

A TOF tube is a type of mass analyser. the ions that are created through an ion source are separated based on their velocity. the ions are accelerated by a certain voltage in the TOF drift tube. ions with lower m/z ratios will achieve a higher velocity and will be detected first by the detector. by measuring the time it takes to reach the detector, the m/z ratio can be determined and the ions can be identified.