Drift Tubes and Analyzer Development

The drift tubes used in commercial analyzers have demonstrated rehabihty and value. However, the same drift tubes contain certain design Hmitations or intrinsic features that could be improved for either the expanded scope of explosives detection or improved operations. These are recognized within the community of IMS developers and researchers and improvements have been under active study and development during the past decade. 

Another interest in drift tube improvements is the poor performance of certain components such as the ion shutter, the device used to inject ions into the drift region 

One of the most impressive developments during the past year or so with traditional drift tubes is the introduction of an IMS analyzer with authentic twin drift tubes where the sample is ionized in a single reaction region and positive and negative ions are extracted and characterized in two separated drift tubes placed at appropriate polarity. In this design, the two drift tubes can be individually controlled in temperature although the ion source is common to both drift tubes. The analyzer 

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