Abstract: A spray area in which a large number of droplets of a liquid sample sprayed from a spray nozzle (3) is separated from the tip of a needle electrode (14) for corona discharge by a sufficiently large distance, with a grid electrode (15) facing the needle electrode (14) placed in between. Ring electrodes (16) for creating an electric field which drives primary ions that should react with the sample and generate sample-derived ions are provided within an ion chamber (10) between the grid electrode (15) and the spray area. Primary ions generated by corona discharge within the space between the needle electrode (14) and the grid electrode (15) pass through the opening of the grid electrode (15), reach the spray area under the effect of the electric field, and ionize sample components. Since the droplets are prevented from adhering to the needle electrode (14), the corona discharge is maintained in a stable state. The resultant primary ions are efficiently transported and used for the ionization of the sample.

Abstract: Provided is an ion transport device 1 including: a drift tube 10 having a plurality of ring-shaped electrodes 11 arranged in an axial direction; a housing 30 containing the drift tube 10; a drift-tube support member 21 supporting the drift tube 10 in relation to the housing 30; a detector 20 fixed to the drift tube 10 and configured to detect ions; and a vibration damper 22 provided on the drift-tube support member 21 and configured to absorb vibration which the drift-tube support member 21 receives from the housing 30. By such a configuration, an occurrence of noise in a detection signal of the detector 20 due to an influence of the vibration can be prevented.

Abstract: An ion mobility analyzing apparatus includes: a drift tube having an internal space extending in a first direction; an ion chamber having an internal space extending in the first direction and connected to the drift tube; an ion gate installed at a boundary between the drift tube and the ion chamber and kept at a ground potential; an ion source supplying ions into the ion chamber; an ion detecting electrode arranged in the drift tube on a side opposite to the ion gate; a first voltage source supplying a first high voltage to the ion chamber; a second voltage source supplying a second high voltage, having an opposite polarity to that of the first high voltage, to the ion detecting electrode; and a signal transfer unit that detects a signal from the ion detecting electrode and transmits the signal to a data processing device operating with the ground potential.

Abstract: A spray area in which a large number of droplets of a liquid sample sprayed from a spray nozzle (3) is separated from the tip of a needle electrode (14) for corona discharge by a sufficiently large distance, with a grid electrode (15) facing the needle electrode (14) placed in between. Ring electrodes (16) for creating an electric field which drives primary ions that should react with the sample and generate sample-derived ions are provided within an ion chamber (10) between the grid electrode (15) and the spray area. Primary ions generated by corona discharge within the space between the needle electrode (14) and the grid electrode (15) pass through the opening of the grid electrode (15), reach the spray area under the effect of the electric field, and ionize sample components. Since the droplets are prevented from adhering to the needle electrode (14), the corona discharge is maintained in a stable state. The resultant primary ions are efficiently transported and used for the ionization of the sample.

Abstract: A spray area in which a large number of droplets of a liquid sample sprayed from a spray nozzle is separated from the tip of a needle electrode for corona discharge by a sufficiently large distance, with a grid electrode facing the needle electrode placed in between. Ring electrodes for creating an electric field which drives primary ions that should react with the sample and generate sample-derived ions are provided within an ion chamber between the grid electrode and the spray area. Primary ions generated by corona discharge within the space between the needle electrode and the grid electrode pass through the opening of the grid electrode, reach the spray area under the effect of the electric field, and ionize sample components. Since the droplets are prevented from adhering to the needle electrode, the corona discharge is maintained in a stable state.

Abstract: An ion mobility analyzing apparatus includes: a drift tube having an internal space extending in a first direction; an ion chamber having an internal space extending in the first direction and connected to the drift tube; an ion gate installed at a boundary between the drift tube and the ion chamber and kept at a ground potential; an ion source supplying ions into the ion chamber; an ion detecting electrode arranged in the drift tube on a side opposite to the ion gate; a first voltage source supplying a first high voltage to the ion chamber; a second voltage source supplying a second high voltage, having an opposite polarity to that of the first high voltage, to the ion detecting electrode; and a signal transfer unit that detects a signal from the ion detecting electrode and transmits the signal to a data processing device operating with the ground potential.

Abstract: A first shutter gate is disposed at an entrance of a drift region, and a second shutter gate is disposed on the downstream side in an ion-drifting direction. In a high-resolution measurement mode, a controller (9) controls voltage generators to open the second shutter gate to collect ions into a pulsed form at the first shutter gate. In this mode, the controller controls the voltage generators to open the first shutter gate to collect ions into a pulsed form at the second shutter gate. In a zoom-in measurement mode where ions within a specified range of ion mobility are measured with high resolving power, the controller controls the voltage generators to open the first shutter gate for a short period of time, and then to open the second shutter gate for a short period of time after a lapse of a predetermined time period.

Abstract: A first shutter gate is disposed at an entrance of a drift region, and a second shutter gate is disposed on the downstream side in an ion-drifting direction. In a high-resolution measurement mode, a controller (9) controls voltage generators to open the second shutter gate to collect ions into a pulsed form at the first shutter gate. In this mode, the controller controls the voltage generators to open the first shutter gate to collect ions into a pulsed form at the second shutter gate. In a zoom-in measurement mode where ions within a specified range of ion mobility are measured with high resolving power, the controller controls the voltage generators to open the first shutter gate for a short period of time, and then to open the second shutter gate for a short period of time after a lapse of a predetermined time period.

Abstract: A technique for improving the efficiency of injecting ions into the electrode unit of a funnel structure having high ion-transport efficiency is provided to improve the overall ion-transport efficiency. From an ionization chamber 1 for ionizing a sample under atmospheric pressure, ions are injected through a straight capillary pipe 3 into the inner space of the electrode unit 10 of a funnel structure composed of ring electrodes in a first intermediate vacuum chamber 4. The space for setting the capillary pipe 3 is formed by replacing one or more ring electrodes with C-shaped electrodes whose circumference portion is partially removed. Each C-shaped electrode is arranged so that the ions will be injected perpendicularly to the ion-transport direction.

Abstract: A drift voltage generator applies voltages to a plurality of annular electrodes, respectively, so that a potential distribution ? on an ion beam axis of an accelerating electric field created within a drift region satisfies ?2?/?Z2>0. Trailing ions undergo a higher rate of acceleration than preceding ions, so that a compressing force acts on an ion packet in the direction of the ion beam axis. Consequently, the ion packet is constantly confined to a smaller space in the direction of the ion beam axis, and ions having the same ion mobility form a narrower peak in a spectrum with the horizontal axis representing the drift time, so that the resolving power improves. A control unit switches the applied voltages so that a uniform accelerating electric field is created.

Abstract: A spray area in which a large number of droplets of a liquid sample sprayed from a spray nozzle is separated from the tip of a needle electrode for corona discharge by a sufficiently large distance, with a grid electrode facing the needle electrode placed in between. Ring electrodes for creating an electric field which drives primary ions that should react with the sample and generate sample-derived ions are provided within an ion chamber between the grid electrode and the spray area. Primary ions generated by corona discharge within the space between the needle electrode and the grid electrode pass through the opening of the grid electrode, reach the spray area under the effect of the electric field, and ionize sample components. Since the droplets are prevented from adhering to the needle electrode, the corona discharge is maintained in a stable state.

Abstract: A drift voltage generator applies voltages to a plurality of annular electrodes, respectively, so that a potential distribution ? on an ion beam axis of an accelerating electric field created within a drift region satisfies ?2?/?Z2>0. Trailing ions undergo a higher rate of acceleration than preceding ions, so that a compressing force acts on an ion packet in the direction of the ion beam axis. Consequently, the ion packet is constantly confined to a smaller space in the direction of the ion beam axis, and ions having the same ion mobility form a narrower peak in a spectrum with the horizontal axis representing the drift time, so that the resolving power improves. A control unit switches the applied voltages so that a uniform accelerating electric field is created.

Abstract: A first ion transport unit with an ion funnel structure having high acceptance is arranged in the front half and a second ion transport unit with a Q-array structure having low emittance and high gas conductance is arranged in the rear half, and an aperture electrode to which only direct current voltage is applied is provided between them. The inside diameter of the opening of the aperture electrode is made larger than the inside diameter of the opening of the ring electrode at the last stage of the first ion transport unit, and the inscribed circle diameter of the first stage electrode plate of the second ion transport unit is made larger still. As a result, interference of high frequency electric fields between the first ion transport unit and the second ion transport unit 14 is reduced and ions which have exited the first ion transport unit are inputted at low loss into the second ion transport unit.

Abstract: A technique for improving the efficiency of injecting ions into the electrode unit of a funnel structure having high ion-transport efficiency is provided to improve the overall ion-transport efficiency. From an ionization chamber 1 for ionizing a sample under atmospheric pressure, ions are injected through a straight capillary pipe 3 into the inner space of the electrode unit 10 of a funnel structure composed of ring electrodes in a first intermediate vacuum chamber 4. The space for setting the capillary pipe 3 is formed by replacing one or more ring electrodes with C-shaped electrodes whose circumference portion is partially removed. Each C-shaped electrode is arranged so that the ions will be injected perpendicularly to the ion-transport direction.

Abstract: The present invention aims at enhancing the ion transport efficiency in an ion guide for transporting ions into the subsequent stage while converging the ions by using a collisional cooling method and a radio-frequency electric field. In the present invention, a transport region through which ions pass is divided into an anterior region #1 having a region length L1 and an posterior region #2 having a, region length L2, and the intensity of the direct-current electric field can be set for each of the regions. A direct-current electric field for appropriately accelerating ions is formed in the region #1 so that the collisional cooling of ions is sufficiently performed while the ions are traveling through the region #1 and the ions are sufficiently converged around the ion optical axis C near the end point of the region #1.