Ion storage for a mobility separator of a mass spectrometric system

1. A mass spectrometric system comprising:

an ion source;

a mobility separator, said mobility separator comprising:

(i) a gas filled drift region in which ions are separated by mobility, the drift region extending along an axis and having one of a substantially constant electric DC field, a periodic focusing electric DC field or a traveling electric field; and

(ii) an ion storage that separates stored ions by mobility and that is located adjacent to or in the entrance of the drift region; and

a mass analyzer,

wherein the ion storage comprises an electric field gradient and a gas flow, said electric field gradient and gas flow extending along the axis of the drift region and providing opposing forces on ions transferred from the ion source to the ion storage that trap and separate the ions along the axis.

2. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 1 , wherein the mobility separator is located between the ion source and the mass analyzer.

3. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 1 , wherein the ion storage and/or the drift region of the mobility separator comprise a set of electrodes and an RF generator for supplying electric RF potentials of different phases to adjacent electrodes.

4. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 3 , wherein the set of electrodes are one of segmented rods and a stack of aperture-like coaxial electrodes, divided into segments.

5. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 1 , wherein the drift region is larger than the ion storage along the axis.

6. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 5 , wherein the drift region is longer than 20 cm.

7. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 1 , wherein the pressure in the drift region is between 10 Pa and 2000 Pa.

8. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 1 , wherein the ion storage is adjacent to the entrance or inside the mobility separator and the gas flow is directed towards the exit of the drift region.

9. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 1 , wherein the ion storage is adjacent to the entrance or inside the mobility separator and the gas flow is directed away from the exit of the drift region.

10. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 1 , wherein the mass analyzer is one of time-of-flight with orthogonal ion injection, electrostatic ion trap, RF ion trap, or ion cyclotron frequency and quadrupole mass filter.

11. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 10 , further comprising a fragmentation cell between the mobility separator and the mass analyzer.

12. The mass spectrometric system according to claim 11 , further comprising a mass filter between the mobility separator and the fragmentation cell.

13. A method for operating a mass spectrometric system, comprising the steps of:

(a) generating ions in an ion source;

(b) transferring ions from the ion source into an ion storage device located adjacent to or inside the entrance of a mobility separator, said ion storage comprising an electric field gradient and a gas flow along the axis of the mobility separator;

(c) trapping and separating ions in the ion storage device at positions along the axis which depend on their mobility by setting the electric field gradient and the gas flow such that opposing forces act on the ions along the axis;

(d) adjusting the electric field gradient and/or the gas flow to release trapped ions into the drift region of the mobility separator, said drift region comprising one of a substantially constant electric DC field, periodic focusing electric DC field or a traveling electric field;

(e) separating ions in time according to their mobility in the drift region; and

(f) analyzing at least some of the ions separated according to mobility in a downstream mass analyzer.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein, in step (c), the electric field gradient drives the ions downstream towards the exit of the mobility separator and the gas flow drags the ions upstream away from the exit such that ions of high mobility are trapped more downstream along the axis than ions of low mobility.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein, in step (d), the upstream gas flow is reduced and/or the electric field gradient is increased to release trapped ions into the drift region of the mobility separator.

16. The method according to claim 14 , wherein, in step (d), another electric field is switched on and drives the ions from the ion storage downstream towards the drift region of the mobility separator.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the additional electric field is substantially the constant electric DC field or a traveling electric field of the drift region.

18. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the upstream gas flow and the electric field gradient are switched off when the additional electric field is switched on.

19. The method according to claim 13 , wherein, in step (c), the electric field gradient drives the ions upstream away from the exit of the mobility separator and the gas flow drags the ions downstream towards the exit such that ions of low mobility are trapped more downstream along the axis than ions of high mobility.

20. A method according to claim 13 , wherein the ions are continuously generated in the ion source and the transfer of ions is stopped prior to step (d).