What is Fourier Transform analysis and why is it needed?
Fourier transform (FT) analysis consists of determining the ion cyclotron resonances (which refers to the number of orbits completed/sec), not by scanning slowly through the spectrum as a function of frequency, but by recording the oscillating charge induced in a detector plate by orbiting ions as they approach and recede from that plate. FT of that time-domain data then yields ALL of the cyclotron frequencies at once, for a time saving by a factor of ~10,000.
