Abstract: The invention relates to the material, design and manufacture of a drift tube with an ion source region, particularly a miniaturized drift tube, for an ion mobility spectrometer to measure mobility spectra, particularly at atmospheric pressure. The invention proposes to use a high-performance plastic which can be injection-molded for the insulating main body for the drift tube and the ion source region. Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) can be used for this purpose, for example.

Abstract: Methods and devices are provided for calibrating the mobility axis of an ion mobility spectrum and determining the mobility characteristic of ion species from an ion mobility spectrum, in particular for calibrating the drift time axis of an ion mobility spectrum acquired by a drift type ion mobility spectrometer (IMS). An ion mobility spectrometer uses an ion source that comprises a first ionization region which is fluidly coupled to a sample source, a second ionization region which is spatially separated from the first ionization region and fluidly coupled to a calibrant reservoir, and electrical means for controlling the transfer of sample ions from the first region into the second ionization region or into a third region of the ion source wherein the third region is fluidly coupled to the first and second ionization region and located closer to a mobility analyzer than the first and second ionization region.

Abstract: The present invention relates to ion mobility spectrometry, in particular to methods and devices for generating and delivering of ammonia gas as dopant into the ionization region of an ion mobility spectrometer. It provides an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) with an ion source and device for generating ammonia gas, wherein the device comprises a dopant reservoir filled with alkali metal nitride or alkaline earth metal nitride, preferably lithium nitride and/or magnesium nitride, said reservoir being fluidly coupled to the ion source and to a water reservoir.