GROUP INSTRUMENTATION.
Originally applied to problems in chemical physics, trace detection , and used for the analysis of small biomolecules for well over a decade, ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) separates ions based on their ability to traverse a chamber filled with inert neutral molecules under the influence of a weak electric field. In a process roughly analogous to a gas-phase version of electrophoretic separation in solution, ions that are large undergo a greater number of collisions with neutral molecules and thus take more time to elute from the chamber than smaller, more compact ions. Ion size in the form of an orientiationally-averaged collision cross-section (CCS) is, therefore, the primary information content of IM separation and computational approaches can be used in conjunction with this information to assign the overall topology and structure to the assembly. See our [publication list] for a more detailed description, or please visit the [links page] where you can find websites that contain detailed tutorials on IM theory and practice.
