PHOTONIS USA, a leading electro-optic mass spectrometer component manufacturer, announced that it has signed a sponsored research agreement with the Georgia Tech Research Corporation in Atlanta, Georgia to design and develop a prototype of a novel new Ion Mobility Spectrometer (IMS) analyzer, using patented technology from PHOTONIS.

The new product can be custom-manufactured to interface with a wide range of mass spectrometers or other sources in order to reduce the overall complexity of IMS analysis. The concept was on display at the recent American Society of Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) conference, May 20-25th, in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) at the PHOTONIS booth. Several scientific posters by both parties discussed the concept in detail at the conference during the week.

The new IMS analyzer is designed to improve performance and reduce cost when compared to current IMS analyzers. A key component in the analyzer is a PHOTONIS Resistive Glass product that eliminates the need for complex wire components as well as heating requirements, simplifying the analysis process and reducing the overall analysis cost.

Resistive glass is manufactured in a patented process by PHOTONIS that creates an electric field to guide or direct charged particles. It consists of alkali-doped lead silicate glass that has been reduced to make the surface a semiconductor, and can drawn into custom shapes for use in ion guides, drift tubes, capillary inlet tubes, ion mirrors, collision cells, conversion diodes or voltage dividers.

PHOTONIS is a multinational high-technology group, with more than 40 years experience in manufacture, sales and innovation, specializing in photo sensor technology. The Group operates internationally in the Night Vision, Industrial, Scientific and Medical Imaging markets.

PHOTONIS USA designs and manufactures a wide range of custom and standard components and assemblies for mass spectroscopy as well as other medical, bio-medical and scientific instruments and holds several patents in these fields.