Electrostatic shutter design for a miniaturized ion mobility spectrometer

Electrostatic ion shutters are a key component in ion mobility spectrometry technology. Ion mobility spectrometry instruments may be miniaturized by using MEMS components. In this paper we present an ion shutter made in bulk silicon micromachining. An optimization of the shutter design is made through a physical model. A study has been carried out considering several parameters (electrode geometry, voltage applied) in order to achieve an optimal electrostatic shutter in terms of closure and aperture ratio. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.