A Miniature Multilevel Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations Ion Mobility Spectrometer with Wide Mobility Range Separation Capabilities

Ion mobility spectrometry employing structures for lossless ion manipulations (SLIM-IMS) is an attractive gas-phase separation technique due to its ability to achieve unprecedented effective ion path lengths (>1 km) and IMS resolving powers in a small footprint. The emergence of multilevel SLIM technology, where ions are transferred between vertically stacked SLIM electrode surfaces, has subsequently allowed for ultralong single-pass path lengths (>40 m) to be achieved, enabling ultrahigh resolution IMS measurements to be performed over the entire mobility range in a single experiment. Here, we report on the development of a 1 m path length miniature SLIM module (miniSLIM) based on multilevel SLIM technology. Ion trajectory simulations were used to optimize SLIM board spacings and SLIM board thicknesses, and a new method of efficiently transferring ions between SLIM levels using asymmetric traveling waves (TWs) was demonstrated. We experimentally characterized the performance of the miniSLIM IMS-MS relative to a drift tube IMS-MS using Agilent tuning mixture cations and tetraalkylammonium cations. The miniSLIM achieved a resolving power of up to 131 (CCS/Delta CCS), which is similar to 1.5x higher than achievable with a 78 cm path length drift tube IMS. Additionally, the entire ion mobility range was successfully transmitted in a single separation. We also demonstrated the miniSLIM's performance as a standalone IMS system (i.e., without MS), which showed baseline separation between all AgTM cations and a clear differentiation between different charge states of a standard peptide mixture. Overall, the miniSLIM provides a compact alternative to high performance IMS instruments possessing similar path lengths.