The devices offered by PIMCO for the detection of very low concentrations are spectrometers based on the IMS mobility spectrometry.
The chamber is divided into two areas. The first is the area from the semi-permeable membrane to the metering grid where ionization is accomplished by the source – or α-radioactive, the second is the drift area – from the metering grid to the collecting electrode. High voltage is applied to the grid before the radioactive source (generally from 1.5 kV to 3 kV), while the metal rings successively from the source to the collecting electrode have lower and lower potentials. Therefore, the field is shaped so that the ions from the ionization region move along linear paths to the collecting electrode.
The ion current produced in the chamber, reaching the collecting electrode, has a value of hundreds of picoamperes and the nature of its changes over time indicates the type of analyzed substances.
Registered spectrograms are subjected to numerical analysis and analyzed substances are identified.
Application areas:
Detection of contamination with combat poisonous substances (e.g. LCD 3.3, GID-3, etc.)
Detecting explosives and drugs.
Detecting drugs or explosives involves taking a sample on special filters, and then vaporizing and analyzing it
