The ion conveyor. An ion focusing and conveying device

The control and transmission of ions or small charged droplets in the intermediate to high-pressure regime is of primary importance in areas such as atmospheric pressure ionisation. Where small apertures separate differentially pumped vacuum regions in the inlet systems to mass spectrometers, a large proportion of the available ion current is lost to the surrounding electrode structures. A new ion-optical device, named the ion conveyor, incorporating electrodynamic focusing and conveying of charged entities is described. Results from ion-optical simulations are presented demonstrating the performance of the device in various operating modes and electrode configurations.