Longitudinal field driven ion mobility filter and detection system

1. An ion mobility analyzer, comprising:

an ion source,

a chip assembly coupled to receive a flow of ions from the ion source, and having

a spaced filter including a first substrate with a first filter electrode connected to the substrate,

a second filter electrode spaced away from the first filter electrode to thereby define an analytical gap between the first and second filter electrodes and a portion of a flow path through which the ion flow occurs, and

a controller connected to at least one of the first and second filter electrodes to generate a time varying electric field between the first and second filter electrodes and having a field characteristic for separating ion species while the ion species are flowing through the analytical gap.

2. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the time varying electric field drives a portion of the ion species onto a surface along the flow path where the portion of ion species are neutralized into neutrals.

3. The Analyzer of claim 1 , comprising an ion flow generator for generating a field within the analytical gap for enabling transportation of ions within the analytical gap.

4. The Analyzer of claim 1 , comprising a clean gas inlet that is configured for introducing clean gas flow into the chip assembly.

5. The Analyzer of claim 4 , wherein the clean gas includes at least one of dehumidified air and filtered air.

6. The Analyzer of claim 1 , comprising a front end for delivering a sample to the ion source.

7. The Analyzer of claim 6 , wherein the front end includes at least one of a gas chromatograph and a liquid chromatograph.

8. The Analyzer of claim 2 , comprising a flow of gas in a direction opposite the direction of transportation of ions within the analytical gap to remove at least a portion of the neutrals from the filter.

9. The Analyzer of claim 1 , comprising a flow of gas out of the filter to cleanse the filter of at least a portion of neutrals.

10. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the filter has a micromachined surface.

11. The Analyzer of claim 1 , comprising a spacer for spacing apart the first and second filter electrodes.

12. The Analyzer of claim 3 , comprising a sidewall defining a spacer for spacing apart first and second ion flow generating electrodes of the ion flow generator.

13. The Analyzer of claim 12 , wherein the at least one of the filter electrodes and one of the flow generating electrodes are the same electrode.

14. The Analyzer of claim 1 , comprising a second substrate coupled to the second electrode and disposed in juxtaposition to the first substrate.

15. The Analyzer of claim 14 , the first substrate and the second substrate being bonded.

16. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes a substrate having a voltage generator circuit formed thereon.

17. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes a substrate having an amplifier.

18. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes a substrate bonded to the chip assembly.

19. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the controller is included in the chip assembly.

20. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the controller is formed on the substrate.

21. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second filter electrodes includes an electrode deposited on the substrate.

22. The Analyzer of claim 21 , wherein the electrode includes metal.

23. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes a channel for defining the flow path including the ion flow.

24. The Analyzer of claim 23 , wherein the channel is formed by lithography.

25. The Analyzer of claim 23 , wherein the channel or an electrode is formed by a process selected from at least one of micromachining, etching, wet etching, and reactive ion etching, bonding, depositing, metallization, fusion, and building upon.

26. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the ion flow substantially continuously carries a portion of the ions through the analytical gap over a period of time.

27. The Analyzer of claim 1 comprising a carrier gas flowing within the flow path.

28. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the controller generates a time varying electric field for controlling a range of motion of an ion continuously flowing through the analytical gap.

29. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the chip assembly includes at least one detector for detecting ions of at least a portion of the sample.

30. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes an time varying voltage generator for generating the time varying electric field over a range of magnitudes and range of frequencies.

31. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes a compensation voltage generator for generating a compensation field to pass selected ions through the analytical gap.

32. The Analyzer of claim 31 , wherein the controller controls the magnitude of the compensation voltage to control the magnitude of the compensation field.

33. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the controller includes a microprocessor for selectively controlling at least one of the time varying electric field and a compensation field.

34. The Analyzer of claim 24 , wherein the channel for defining the flow path is substantially adjacent to a silicon substrate.

35. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the chip assembly includes a plurality of layers, a first layer including the filter, and a second layer including the controller.

36. The Analyzer of claim 11 , wherein at least a portion of the spacer extends along the spaced filter.

37. The Analyzer of claim 11 , wherein the spacer comprises at least one of glass, ceramic, silicon, and pyrex.

38. The Analyzer of claim 11 , wherein the spacer includes insulating material.

39. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the chip assembly includes a resistive layer for controlling the flow of ions.

40. The Analyzer of claim 39 , wherein the resistive layer includes deposited resistive materials.

41. The Analyzer of claim 1 comprising a heater for heating a portion of the ion flow passing through the analytical gap.

42. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of chips are bonded together to form the Analyzer.

43. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the chip assembly includes at least one of a desiccant, a gas conditioner, a pump, the ion source, an amplifier, a molecular sieve, a dopant inlet, and an insulating medium.

44. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the chip assembly couples to at least one of an MS, IMS, DMS, and a mobility based analyzer.

45. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the analyzer operates as a pre-filter for one of an MS, IMS, DMS, and a mobility based analyzer.

46. The Analyzer of claim 1 , comprising a plurality of ion flows, each ion flow associated with a time varying field for filtering a portion of ions.

47. The Analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the ion source includes an electrospray ion source.

48. An ion mobility based analyzer comprising:

a first pair of opposing electrodes for generating a time varying electric field therebetween,

a second pair of opposing electrodes, the second pair of electrodes being biased in relation to the first pair of electrodes to generate an ion flow along a flow path including the first and second pair of electrodes.

49. The Analyzer of claim 48 , wherein the second pair of opposing electrodes includes a time varying field therebetween.

50. The Analyzer of claim 48 , wherein the time varying electric field is substantially traverse to the ion flow.

51. A method for manufacturing an ion mobility based analyzer comprising:

providing a substrate,

lithographically defining an ion filter region having first and second electrodes for generating a time varying electric field therebetween,

providing a controller to control the time varying electric field.

52. A method for manufacturing an ion mobility based analyzer comprising:

providing a substrate,

micromachining the substrate to define an ion filter region having first and second electrodes for generating a time varying electric field therebetween,

providing a controller to control the time varying electric field.