Patent ID: 7164122

Claim:
An apparatus for separating and analyzing ions, comprising: an ionization source to generate ions, a plurality of ion mobility drift cells coupled to said ionization source, said plurality of drift cells having an entrance aperture and an exit aperture, and wherein each drift cell of said plurality of drift cells has an entrance aperture and an exit aperture and is coupled to at least one other drift cell, and wherein each drift cell of said plurality of drift cells is coaxially aligned in series along its separation axis with the separation axes of the other drift cells, and wherein said plurality of ion mobility drift cells comprise electrodes for transporting and focusing the ions, and further wherein for at least one of said plurality of ion mobility drift cells said focusing comprises a superposition of periodic field focusing and hyperbolic field focusing; and, a detector coupled to said exit aperture of said plurality of ion mobility drift cells to detect the ions.