Yan Shuxiong, a native of Nanyang, Henan Province, is an associate researcher in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Southern University of Science and Technology. He earned his Ph.D. from Jinan University in 2022 under the supervision of Professor Zhou Zhen, a renowned expert in mass spectrometry. His research focuses on ion optics and the development of ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry using nonlinear fields. From 2019 to 2021, he pursued a joint doctoral program sponsored by the Japan KEK and the RIKEN Nishina Center for Nuclear Physics, where he worked under the guidance of Professor Wada—the "father of high-energy ion cooling gas cells"—and Professor Wollnik, the inventor of ultra-high-mass-resolution multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry. During this period, he refined a constrained gradient-free optimization algorithm, developed high-precision numerical models of electromagnetic fields, and optimized ion-optical paths. His work was recognized as a Highlight achievement by RIKEN in 2020. Upon returning to China, he completed the development of an ultra-high-resolution multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MRTOF) within one year, achieving a mass resolution (FWHM) exceeding 120,000. From 2022 to 2025, as a postdoctoral fellow, he joined the group led by Luo Qi at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he successfully developed plasma-based technologies. In 2023, he was honored as an Outstanding Employee of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since November 2025, he has been appointed as an associate researcher in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Southern University of Science and Technology. Has published more than 10 SCI papers related to instrument development in authoritative domestic and international journals, and has filed 9 PCT and Chinese patent applications (5 of which have been granted). Additionally, has delivered over 10 invited and oral presentations at academic conferences both domestically and internationally in the field of mass spectrometry, and as a core member has participated in the development of several major national-level instrument projects.

Research area:

1. Ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometer, nonlinear flight-field technology, multi-reflection time-of-flight, ultra-high vacuum, and high-precision measurement instrument setup;

2. Ion optics, ion manipulation and sorting technologies, cooling, transport, modulation, and storage of charged particles; construction of ion-optical devices.

3. Numerical simulation and optimization algorithm development: Development of multi-parameter gradient-free optimization algorithms for large-scale, complex numerical models; automatic simulation of ion trajectories in electromagnetic fields; optimization of device parameters.

4. Ionization techniques, including plasma and electrospray ionization techniques;

5. Embodied intelligence molecular detection technology, and development of miniaturized, low-power mass spectrometry technology.

Representative article:

[1] Shuxiong Yan; Yi Ren; Qi Huang; Yi Hong; Zhengge Chen; Mei Li; Bin Hu; Zhengxu Huang;High‐resolution multi‐reflection time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer with atmospheric pressure interface, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 2024, 38(11)

[2] Shuxiong Yan; Ke Ma; Yi Ren; Yi Hong; Zhengge Chen; Qi Huang; Hui Zhu; Zhengxu Huang; Design and performance of a dual stage asymmetric ion funnel interface, International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 2023, 494(117133)

[3] Yueguang Lv; Shuxiong Yan; Ka Deng; Zhiyu Chen; Zhiyi Yang; Fang Li; Qian Luo; Unlocking the Molecular Variations of a Micron-Scale Amyloid Plaque in an Early Stage Alzheimer’s Disease by a Cellular-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Imaging Platform, ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2024,15(2) (co-first author) 

Representative patent:

[1] Chen Zhengge; Yan Shuxiong; Huang Zhengxu; Zhou Zhen; A Numerical Analysis Method and Apparatus for Enhancing the Resolution of Mass Spectrometry Instruments, 2023-03-21, China, CN 111027228 B

[2] Luo Xi; Peng Yaoqiang; Deng Ka; Yan Shuxiong; A Mass Spectrometry Sample Introduction Method and Apparatus for Microscale Cell Lysis, Atomization, and Ionization, 2025-10-31, China, CN 119480612 B