Detector Gain Factor (LC/MS)

The Detector Gain Factor must be equal to or greater than 0.1 and less than or equal to 10.0.

The primary principle of Detector Gain Factor is that the signal for the compound ions is directly proportional to the Detector Gain Factor setting of the acquisition method. This means that increasing the Detector Gain Factor from 1 to 4 increases the signal amplification four times higher which increases the response seen in Data Analysis by four-fold also. If the Detector Gain Factor is too high, then peaks are flat-topped, and quantitation is poor at higher concentrations. If the Detector Gain Factor is too low, the low concentration analyte responses are too low.

To determine a Detector Gain Factor, you can use the following procedure:

Set the Detector Gain Factor to 1 and acquire the highest concentration standard.
Identify the most intense extracted ion signal and record the maximum peak height counts.

To calculate a more optimum Detector Gain Factor, you can use the following equation:

((Largest peak height in counts)/DGF used) = (3000000 counts/DGF calculated)

If you used an initial Detector Gain Factor of 1, a better Detector Gain Factor may be (3000000 counts) /(largest peak height count from the Base Peak Chromatogram). The Detector gain factor can be rounded off to the first place behind the decimal point (x.x). You can reacquire the standard with the new Detector Gain Factor.