Patent ID: 8637817

Claim:
An ion trap device, comprising: a containment region for containing ions; a regular polyhedral structure comprising a plurality of electrodes encompassing the containment region, wherein the containment region for containing ions corresponds substantially to a volume encompassed by the regular polyhedral structure; a plurality of vertices and a plurality of regular polygonal surfaces defining the regular polyhedral structure, the plurality of electrodes including a vertex electrode positioned on each vertex of the plurality of vertices, at least four of the vertex electrodes being positioned on a first surface of the plurality of regular polygonal surfaces, the plurality of electrodes including additional electrodes configured to form a plurality of quadrupoles on the first surface; and a first RF voltage applied to alternating electrodes of the plurality of electrodes, and a second RF voltage applied to electrodes interspersed between the alternating electrodes, the first and second RF voltage being of equal amplitude and opposite polarity at a point in time, neighboring electrodes of the plurality of electrodes being maintained at opposite phases, the plurality of electrodes configured to form a potential barrier for repelling the ions from each of the plurality of regular polygonal surfaces forming the regular polyhedral structure.