KR101703063B1 - High voltage Radio Frequency waveform generating Apparatus and Method to operate ion mobility device using linear amplifier - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a driving technology of an ion mobility device, and more particularly, to a waveform generating device for a high voltage asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) using an ultra wide band radio frequency (RF) linear amplifier and a method thereof. The waveform generating device includes a signal generating unit which generates a first voltage signal of an RF waveform, a high voltage linear amplifier which generates a second voltage signal by amplifying and controlling the first voltage signal, and an electrode which receives the second voltage signal and outputs the second voltage signal. Accordingly, the present invention can freely design and/or instantly output an asymmetric RF waveform of a high voltage and a high frequency required for an FAIMS operation.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a high voltage RF waveform generating apparatus and method for driving an ion mobility apparatus using a linear amplifier,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a driving method of an ion mobility apparatus, and more particularly, to a driving method of an ion mobility apparatus using a waveform generator for an asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) using an ultra-wideband radio frequency (RF) And methods.

The asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) maximizes the difference in mobility between molecular mobility and / or shape at the time of transfer of molecular ions in the atmosphere, It can be used as an ion filter because it can selectively pass only ions. It is a device for detecting a specific substance in air by measuring passed ions.

FAIMS is suitable for miniaturization among ion filters and detection devices using ion mobility and has high ion selectivity and has been developed as a portable detection device. FAIMS generally applies a high electric field asymmetrically between two opposing electrodes and repeats the motion in the direction of the upper electrode and the lower electrode while the ions are passing by the gas flow passing through the electrode and disappears to the one electrode by the asymmetric electric field And only certain ions are allowed to pass between these electrodes.

At this time, the asymmetric high-voltage RF wave applied between the electrodes is ideally not a simple sine wave but ideally a square wave, but it is difficult to make a square wave of a high frequency at a high voltage.

In addition, there is a difficulty in finely adjusting the shape of the waveform in the FAIMS operation such as the duty ratio of the square wave and the adjustment of the offset voltage (DC offset).

In particular, the asymmetric electric field ion mobility separator constructed using an OP amp-based ultra-wideband voltage amplifier, a high-voltage RF signal, is an important environmental condition for controlling the mobility of ions and selecting only specific ions .

That is, the specific ion selectivity of the FAIMS device can be improved by the shape of the RF waveform, and it is very important to freely generate and / or operate a high-voltage RF waveform for realizing the performance suited to the characteristics of the equipment in equipment development Condition.

However, since the necessary RF waveform is not a simple sine wave but a high voltage and high frequency signal close to an asymmetric square wave, it is difficult to implement a sine wave generator and an amplifier using a general output transformer.

1. Korean Registered Patent No. 100772464 (Oct. 26, 2007) 2. Korean Patent Publication No. 1020090127901

1. Kim Hak-shin, "A Study on the Asymmetric High Voltage Waveform Generator for DMS System Using PCB Pattern Transformer", Korea Institute of Technology 2013

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems described in the background art, and it is an object of the present invention to freely design and develop high voltage, high frequency asymmetric RF waveform (close to square wave) required for FAIMS (High voltage Asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer Voltage RF waveform generation device and method capable of outputting a high-frequency RF signal and / or outputting it immediately.

In order to accomplish the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for designing and / or outputting an asymmetric RF waveform (close to a square wave) of high voltage and high frequency required for operation of a FAIMS (High voltage asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer) A high voltage RF waveform generator is provided.

The high-voltage RF waveform generation apparatus includes:

A signal generator for receiving a predetermined waveform design information and generating a first voltage signal of a radio frequency (RF) waveform for driving an ion mobility separator from the waveform design information;

A high voltage linear amplifier for amplifying and regulating the first voltage signal to generate a second voltage signal; And

And an electrode for receiving and outputting the second voltage signal.

The signal generator may include: a personal computer for generating the waveform design information; And a signal processor for processing the waveform design information into the first voltage signal.

The signal processing unit may further include: an MCU (Micro Control Unit) for generating a digital voltage signal according to the waveform design information; And a converter for converting the digital voltage signal into an analog first voltage signal.

The high voltage linear amplifier may further include: an OP (Operation) amplifier; A variable resistor electrically connected to an inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier; A first resistor electrically connected between the variable resistor and the signal generating unit; And a second resistor electrically connected between an inverting input terminal of the OP amplifier and an output terminal of the OP amplifier.

The ion mobility separator may be a high voltage asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS).

The waveform design information may be generated according to input information for waveform design of a user.

In addition, the RF waveform may be an asymmetric square waveform.

On the other hand, another embodiment of the present invention is a method of generating waveform design information, comprising: receiving waveform design information to which a signal generating section is preset; Generating a first voltage signal of a high-frequency radio frequency (RF) waveform for driving an ion mobility separator from the waveform design information; Amplifying and regulating the first voltage signal to generate a second voltage signal; And applying the second voltage signal to an electrode to output the second voltage signal; Voltage RF waveform generation method for driving an ion mobility apparatus using a linear amplifier.

(RFIM) applied to a high frequency asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) electrode in a relatively wide operating frequency range of an operation amplifier having a high output impedance but high voltage and high frequency characteristics, ) Voltage signal frequency can be freely designed and implemented.

Particularly, as another effect of the present invention, it is advantageous to realize an asymmetric arbitrary waveform, so that a more effective waveform design for FAIMS is possible.

Further, as another effect of the present invention, all waveforms are designed by a PC (personal computer) and can be output stably to 900 kHz without limitation, and as a result, free waveforms for selection and / or detection of various sample ions Design and / or direct output to FAIMS is possible.

Further, as another effect of the present invention, such a free waveform designing and output capability can improve the structural design and performance optimization of FAIMS, sensitivity and sorting resolution, and provide a stable output.

As another effect of the present invention, an asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) separator is used to output a signal between the electrodes to finally move the sample ions flowing into the atmospheric pressure air flow to isolate specific ions It is possible to design a variety of waveforms for the receiving device, which can provide an important tool for improving the performance.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a high-voltage, high-frequency asymmetric RF (Radio Frequency) waveform generation apparatus 100 for a high voltage asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the signal generating unit 110 shown in FIG.
3 is a circuit diagram of a high-voltage and high-frequency operation amplifier which is important in a high-voltage, high-frequency asymmetric RF waveform generator for FAIMS drive, as an example of a circuit diagram of the high-voltage amplifier 120 shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing waveforms of two representative waveforms output from an operation amplifier for high voltage and high frequency in a high-voltage, high-frequency asymmetric RF waveform generator for driving FAIMS according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, Quot; duty ratio "and" offset voltage "and the like.
FIG. 5A is a characteristic graph of the amplification ratio of the conventional RF voltage amplifier according to the input frequency.
FIG. 5B is a graph showing amplification characteristics according to frequencies of an RF voltage amplifier using an operational amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is more flat and stable.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Like reference numerals are used for similar elements in describing each drawing.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component. The term "and / or" includes any combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.

Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Should not.

Hereinafter, an apparatus and method for generating a high voltage RF waveform for driving an ion mobility apparatus using a linear amplifier according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a high-voltage, high-frequency asymmetric RF (Radio Frequency) waveform generation apparatus 100 for a high voltage asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1, a RF (Radio Frequency) waveform generation apparatus 100 includes a signal generation unit 110, a high voltage amplifier 120, and an electrode 130.

The signal generator 110 includes a PC (Personal Computer) 111 for generating waveform design information 101 according to the waveform design of the user and a second voltage And a signal processing unit 112 for generating a signal. Here, the first voltage signal is a voltage signal of a high voltage RF waveform for driving the ion mobility separator.

A more detailed configuration for the signal processing unit 112 is shown in FIG. 2 will be described later.

1, the high-voltage linear amplifier 120 amplifies and regulates a first voltage signal generated from the signal processing unit 112 to generate a second voltage signal, and applies the second voltage signal to the electrode 130. [ The electrode 130 is an electrode of a high voltage asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS). As a result, motion of the sample ions in the atmosphere can be generated in the electrode 130 according to the applied voltage.

In addition, the signal generator 110 may design and / or generate various waveforms to optimize the selection and / or measurement of the sample ions, amplify the voltage through the high-voltage linear amplifier 120, As shown in Fig.

In particular, the signal generator 110 may generate and transmit a first voltage (or power) signal in the form of an arbitrary waveform to the high voltage linear amplifier 120. The high-voltage linear amplifier 120 receives the first voltage signal from the signal generating unit 110, amplifies the first voltage signal, and converts the amplified first voltage signal to the second voltage signal to apply the voltage to the electrode 130. As a result, motion of the sample ions in the atmosphere can be generated in the electrode 130 according to the applied voltage. Here, the first voltage signal may have a maximum voltage level of about 10V.

2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the signal generating unit 110 shown in FIG. 2, the signal generating unit 110 includes a personal computer (PC) 111, a signal processing unit 112, and the like.

The signal processing unit 112 includes a microcontroller unit (MCU) 220, a converter 230, and the like. The micro control unit 220 outputs a voltage according to the waveform design information 101 designed in the personal computer 110 to generate a digital voltage signal. The converter 230 may be a digital-analog converter (DA). Accordingly, the converter 230 may convert the digital voltage signal generated by the MCU 220 into an analog signal to generate the first voltage signal. The configuration of the signal generating unit 110 shown in FIG. 2 is merely exemplary, and in another embodiment, the signal generating unit may have a different configuration capable of outputting different voltage signals.

The first voltage signal generated by the signal generation unit 110 may be transmitted to the high voltage linear amplifier 120.

3 is a circuit diagram of a high-voltage, high-frequency operation amplifier which is important in a high-voltage, high-frequency asymmetric RF waveform generator for FAIMS drive, as an example of a circuit diagram of the high-voltage amplifier 120 shown in FIG. Generally, high voltage and high frequency RF waveforms required for the operation of the asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS) can be designed in various shapes depending on the sample material to be separated by the separator.

In particular, it is necessary to make asymmetric square waves and to precisely control the duty rate or offset voltage of the waveform. For RF amplifiers, which generally use output coils to implement these changes, It is advantageous, however, that it can not be shaped into square waves or produce asymmetric waveforms.

In order to solve this problem effectively, a high-frequency high-frequency output can be freely generated by using a linear amplifier using an operation amplifier element having a high output voltage and high output voltage and / or high frequency characteristics in an embodiment of the present invention Do.

To this end, the high voltage linear amplifier 120 includes an OP (Operation) Amplifier 310; A variable resistor (V _R ) electrically connected to the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier (310); A first resistor (R ₁ ) electrically connected between the variable resistor (V _R ) and the signal generator; A second resistor R ₃ electrically connected between an inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 310 and an output terminal of the operational amplifier 310; And the like.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing waveforms of two representative waveforms output from an operation amplifier for high voltage and high frequency in a high-voltage, high-frequency asymmetric RF waveform generator for driving FAIMS according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, Quot; duty ratio "and" offset voltage "and the like. Referring to FIG. 4, an asymmetric square waveform 410 and an asymmetric sinusoidal waveform 420 are shown for the same duty ratio 430 and offset voltage 440.

FIG. 5A is a characteristic graph of amplification ratios according to input frequencies of a conventional RF voltage amplifier, FIG. 5B is a graph showing amplification characteristics of RF voltage amplifiers using operation amplifiers according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig.

The input frequency corresponds to the frequency of the first voltage signal input from the signal generator 110 to the high voltage linear amplifier 120. [ In the experiment shown in FIG. 5A, the voltage magnitude of the first voltage signal was about 0.1V. As the input frequency changes, the output voltage 510 varies greatly and the output power varies from about 5W to about 13W. As a result, when the output power is about 8 W, the voltage is reduced by about 20% as compared with the peak. When the output power is about 5 W, the output voltage is not stabilized.

5B according to an embodiment of the present invention, the three graphs 520, 530, and 540 are respectively a high voltage signal when the voltage magnitude of the first voltage signal input to the voltage amplifier is about 400 V, about 300 V, And the output voltage of the linear amplifier 120 is shown. As shown, the output voltage in each of the graphs 520, 530, and 540 remains constant in almost all of the regions even though the input frequency varies, and the input frequency is about 1000 kHz so that a stable output voltage .

100: RF (Radio Frequency) waveform generation device
101: Waveform Design Information
110: Signal generator 111: Personal computer
112: Signal processor
120: High-voltage linear amplifier
130: Electrode
220: Micro Controller Unit (MCU)
230: Converter
310: OP (Operation) AMPlifier

Claims (8)

A signal generator for receiving a predetermined waveform design information and generating a first voltage signal of a radio frequency (RF) waveform for driving an ion mobility separator from the waveform design information;
A high voltage linear amplifier for amplifying and regulating the first voltage signal to generate a second voltage signal; And
And an electrode for receiving and outputting the second voltage signal,
The ion mobility separator is a high voltage asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS)
The RF waveform is an asymmetric square waveform,
Wherein the duty ratio and the offset voltage of the asymmetric rectangular waveform are adjustable. The high voltage RF waveform generator for driving the ion mobility apparatus using the linear amplifier.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the signal generator comprises:
A personal computer for generating the waveform design information; And
And a signal processor for processing the waveform design information into the first voltage signal. The high voltage RF waveform generator for driving an ion mobility apparatus using a linear amplifier.
3. The method of claim 2,
The signal processing unit,
An MCU (Micro Control Unit) for generating a digital voltage signal according to the waveform design information; And
And a converter for converting the digital voltage signal into an analog first voltage signal.
The method according to claim 1,
The high-voltage linear amplifier includes:
OP (Operation) AMPlifier;
A variable resistor electrically connected to an inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier;
A first resistor electrically connected between the variable resistor and the signal generating unit; And
And a second resistor electrically connected between an inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier and an output terminal of the operational amplifier.
delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the waveform design information is generated in accordance with input information for a waveform design of a user.
delete Receiving the waveform design information to which the signal generating unit is preset;
Generating a first voltage signal of a high-frequency radio frequency (RF) waveform for driving an ion mobility separator from the waveform design information;
Amplifying and regulating the first voltage signal to generate a second voltage signal; And
And applying and outputting the second voltage signal to the electrode,
The ion mobility separator is a high voltage asymmetric field ion mobility spectrometer (FAIMS)
The RF waveform is an asymmetric square waveform,
Ion mobility of the driving device generating a high voltage RF waveform method for using a linear amplifier, characterized in that the duty ratio and an offset voltage can be adjusted to the square waveform of the asymmetry.

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