ABSTRACT
The term ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) refers to the principles, methods, and instrumentation for characterizing substances from the speed of swarms (dened as ensembles of gaseous ions) derived from a substance, in an electric eld and through a supporting gas atmosphere.1,2 This simple denition encompasses all combinations of pressure, §ow, and composition of the gases, strength and control of electric elds, and methods of forming ions from samples.3-7 Proliferation in mobility methods during the past decade was accompanied by variations in styles, geometries, and dimensions of mobility analyzers. While reasons for the rise of such diversity are complex, a consequence of this creativity is an expanded range of measurement possibilities that are improved signicantly over descriptions in the 2005 second edition of this monograph.2 An attempt to summarize these advances from this period of high activity, based on principles of mobility by pressure and electric eld, is shown in Figure 1.1.
