The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 12, 2006
Filed:
Apr. 11, 2005
Keqi Tang, Richland, WA (US);
Alexandre A. Shvartsburg, Richland, WA (US);
Richard D. Smith, Richland, WA (US);
Keqi Tang, Richland, WA (US);
Alexandre A. Shvartsburg, Richland, WA (US);
Richard D. Smith, Richland, WA (US);
Battelle Memorial Institute, Richland, WA (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to a device for separation and characterization of gas-phase ions. The device incorporates an ion source, a field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) analyzer, an ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) drift tube, and an ion detector. In one aspect of the invention, FAIMS operating voltages are electrically floated on top of the IMS drift voltage. In the other aspect, the FAIMS/IMS interface is implemented employing an electrodynamic ion funnel, including in particular an hourglass ion funnel. The present invention improves the efficiency (peak capacity) and sensitivity of gas-phase separations; the online FAIMS/IMS coupling creates a fundamentally novel two-dimensional gas-phase separation technology with high peak capacity, specificity, and exceptional throughput.