TIC (Total Ion Current)

TIC chromatograms summarize all counts at the corresponding retention time. Unlike SIM chromatograms, TIC chromatograms include the data of the entire mass range.

The TIC channel is always recorded; it is independent of the mode used in the MS method (Full-Scan or SIM). In Full-Scan mode, up to four additional TICF_n channels can be recorded for the aQa MS (nine TICF_n channels for the MSQ). The data acquisition conditions (for example, the acceleration voltage in the Mass Spectrometer) may vary. The channels are called TICF_1 through TICF_4 for the aQa mass spectrometer and TICF_1 through TICF_9 for the MSQ spectrometer. The TIC channel summarizes the results of these single channels. One TIC channel is also recorded in SIM mode. In this case, it corresponds to the sum of the results of the single SIM channels.

From the Mass Spectrum, you can extract separate Mass Traces (or mass ranges) and save them as new channels (see Using Mass Spectrometers  Extracting a Mass Trace). In this way, you can limit the size of the mass range of TIC channels according to your requirements.

Also, refer to How to …: Installing and Configuring Mass Spectrometers  Defining the Number of MS Channels in the Administrator Help section.

 Note: 

TIC chromatograms represent the totals of intensity from the spectra headers. These headers are created at run time during data acquisition. Thus, the chromatograms that are later extracted using the entire mass range show a slightly different intensity profile.