Patent attributes
Ions carried in a flowing gas stream are transferred to another gas stream of different composition or purity through an ion selective aperture communicating between the gas streams. The ion selective aperture is formed of a central layer which has an electrically conductive layer on each of its surfaces. One or more open channels extend through the central layer and surface layers allowing physical movement of ions therethrough under the urging and influence of an electric field created by imposing a voltage differential between the conductive surface layers of the ion selective aperture. The gas flow rates of the different gas streams may be independently varied to allow adjustment of ion concentration and flow rate to meet the needs of the ion destination. This device can control sample ion introduction into gas-phase ion detectors, such as ion mobility analyzers, differential mobility analyzers, mass spectrometers, and combinations thereof.
