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Investigation of the influence of voltage parameters on decay times in an ion mobility spectrometer with a pulsed non-radioactive electron source

  • Original Research
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International Journal for Ion Mobility Spectrometry

Abstract

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is a well-known method for detecting hazardous compounds in air. Most ion mobility spectrometers use a radioactive source to provide electrons with high energy (5–50 keV) to ionize analytes in a series of chemical reactions. Instead of a radioactive source, we use a non-radioactive electron gun which can be operated in pulsed mode. Thus a delay time between ionization and ion extraction can be introduced which offers the possibility to use the signal decay characteristic of substances as a further discrimination parameter. The influence of voltages supplied to the reaction region and to the electron gun on signal intensities and decay times will be investigated in order to obtain further insight into the dependence of this signal decay on different experimental parameters and correspondingly into the underlying mechanisms.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unit, Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Moislinger Allee 53-55, 23542, Lübeck, Germany

    Wolfgang Baether

  2. Institute of Electrical Engineering and Measurement Technology, Leibniz University Hannover, Appelstr. 9a, 30167, Hannover, Germany

    Stefan Zimmermann

  3. Physics Department, German University in Cairo, Entrance El Tagamoa El Khames, New Cairo City, Cairo, Egypt

    Frank Gunzer

Authors
  1. Wolfgang Baether
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  2. Stefan Zimmermann
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  3. Frank Gunzer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank Gunzer.

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Baether, W., Zimmermann, S. & Gunzer, F. Investigation of the influence of voltage parameters on decay times in an ion mobility spectrometer with a pulsed non-radioactive electron source. Int. J. Ion Mobil. Spec. 13, 95–101 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12127-010-0046-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12127-010-0046-5

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