Abstract: Aerodynamic diameter and chemical compositions of single aerosol are obtained by single particle mass spectrometry (SPMS) in real time. SPMS has wide application prospect in monitoring tropospheric aerosols and environment pollution study. A single particle mass spectrometry usually composed of inlet system, particle diameter measurement system and chemical composition analysis system. Different types of SPMS were developed for analyzing aerosols with various sources and complex composition. Two types of SPMS including laser ionization and EI ionization SPMS are introduced according to the difference on ionization method and the new SPMS using soft ionization technology, which capable of quantitative analysis are specifically presented. With the development of science and technology, the main studies focus on wider applications and higher performance.