Digitally-multiplexed nanoelectrospray ionization atmospheric pressure drift tube ion mobility spectrometry

One of the shortcomings of atmospheric pressure drift tube ion mobility spectrometry (DTIMS) is its intrinsically low duty cycle (approximately 0.04-1%) caused by the rapid pulsing of the ion gate (25-400 micros) followed by a comparatively long drift time (25-100 ms), which translates into a loss of sensitivity. Multiplexing approaches via Hadamard and Fourier-type gating techniques have been reported for increasing the sensitivity of DTIMS. Here, we report an extended multiplexing approach which encompasses arbitrary binary ion injection waveforms with variable duty cycles ranging from 0.5 to 50%. In this approach, ion mobility spectra can be collected using conventional signal averaging, arbitrary, standard Hadamard and/or "extended" Hadamard operation modes. Initial results indicate signal-to-noise gains ranging from 2-7-fold for both arbitrary and "extended" Hadamard sequences. Standard Hadamard transform IMS provided increased sensitivity, with gains ranging from 9-12-fold, however, mobility spectra suffered from defects that appeared as false peaks, which were reduced or eliminated when using arbitrary or "extended" Hadamard waveforms for multiplexing. Digital multiplexing enables variation of the duty cycle in a continuous manner, minimizing the contribution of imperfect modulation on spectral defects without the need for complex spectral correction methods. By reducing the frequency of gating events employed in the variable duty cycle sequences, the contributions of factors such as ion depletion prior to gating, interaction of successively injected ion packets, and the cumulative effect of imperfect gating events were mitigated.