Patent ID: 8866073

Claim:
An apparatus for detecting constituents in a sample, said apparatus comprising: a casing; an ionization chamber at least partially defined by said casing, said ionization chamber configured to generate and store ions; an ion collector positioned downstream of said ionization chamber; a spectral analysis device coupled to said ion collector, said spectral analysis device configured to generate a detection spectrum representative of ions collected at said ion collector, wherein the detection spectrum includes an analyte peak portion and a peak tailing portion; and a control system coupled to said ionization chamber, said control system configured to: generate a first pulse within said ionization chamber, the first pulse having a first polarity to initiate a discharge of at least a portion of the stored ions from said ionization chamber; and generate a second pulse within said ionization chamber, the second pulse having a second polarity opposite the first polarity of the first pulse that is generated substantially immediately after the first pulse, wherein the second pulse is configured to reduce a peak tailing portion.