SIMION® Quick Start Notes

OVERVIEW: SIMION® (pronounced sim-ion or sim-ee-uhn) is a software package used primarily to calculate electric fields, when given a configuration of electrodes with voltages, and calculate trajectories of charged particles in those fields, when given particle initial conditions, including optional RF, magnetic field, and collisional effects. In this, SIMION provides extensive supporting functionality in defining your system geometry and conditions, recording and visualizing results, and extending the simulation capabilities with user programming. It is an affordable but versatile platform, widely used for over 40 years to simulate lens, mass spec, and other types of particle optics systems.

PACKAGE CONTENTS: Your SIMION package contains the software, software license numbers, and these quick start notes. You will also have a SIMION manual plus supplemental help documentation. This is all provided in electronic format. The installation installs the software, examples, and links to documentation.

DOCUMENTATION: Documentation is available in the form of the SIMION manual and the “supplementary” electronic documentation (both accessible from the “Help” menu in the SIMION software). If you are learning SIMION, we recommend reviewing the introductory sections of the manual and check out the SIMION examples to see how simulations are built/used.

NEW FEATURES: See the SIMION Advances, SIMION® 8.2, and SIMION® 8.1 pages in the supplementary electronc documentation for details on what’s new in the latest version. The new features are only described here, not in the manual.

LICENSE AGREEMENT: The software license agreement is displayed during installation and can also be found on the installation program and in the installed files (“Help | About” menu).

INSTALLATION: To install, run the simionsetup.exe program povided and follow the instructions on the screen. If you have special installation needs (e.g. Linux or Mac), refer to System Requirements.

UPDATES: With your purchase of SIMION, free software updates to 8.2.x versions may be downloaded, when available, within a year of purchase, upon providing your license key, from the simion.com web site using by clicking the “Check for Updates” button in SIMION.

FEEDBACK: If you have a question on the use of the software, feel free to contact us through one of the methods listed on simion.com. Some amount of free assistance is included. Suggestions for improvements or enhancements to the software are always welcome.

– Happy ion flying, Adaptas.