title: Spatial Ion Peak Compression and its Utility in Ion Mobility Spectrometry.
abstract: A novel concept for ion spatial peak compression is described, and discussed primarily in the context of ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). Using theoretical and numerical methods, the effects of using non-constant (e.g., linearly varying) electric fields on ion distributions (e.g., an ion mobility peak) is evaluated both in the physical and temporal domains. The application of a linearly decreasing electric field in conjunction with conventional drift field arrangements is shown to lead to a reduction in IMS physical peak width. When multiple ion packets (i.e., peaks) in a selected mobility window are simultaneously subjected to such fields, there is ion packet compression (i.e., a reduction in peak widths for all species). This peak compression occurs with only a modest reduction of resolution, which can be quickly recovered as ions drift in a constant field after the compression event. Compression also yields a significant increase in peak intensities. Ion mobility peak compression can be particularly useful for mitigating diffusion-driven peak broadening over very long path length separations (e.g., in cyclic multi-pass arrangements), and for achieving higher S/N and IMS resolution over a selected mobility range. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
authors.forename: Sandilya V B
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Garimella
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
authors.forename: Yehia M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
authors.forename: Keqi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
authors.forename: Ian K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
authors.forename: Erin S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
authors.forename: Aleksey V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Tolmachev
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
authors.forename: Tsung-Chi
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA.
authors.forename: Gordon A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA. rds@pnnl.gov.
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000075663:Ion Mobility Spectrometry; D007477:Ions; D011312:Pressure
chemical_list: D007477:Ions
keywords: Diffusion; High resolution IMS; Ion mobility spectrometry; Peak compression