IONIZER FOR STATIC ELIMINATION IN VARIABLE ION MOBILITY ENVIRONMENTS

摘要

An ionizer that creates a corona current distribution having a balanced flow of positive and negative ions in a variable ion mobility gaseous environment, such as an environment of substantially nitrogen. The balanced flow of positive and negative ions is directed toward a workspace or target located in the gaseous environment downstream from the ionizer. The ionizer includes a counterelectrode (12), a positive ion emitter (1), a negative ion emitter (4), and a control circuit. The counterelectrode has at least two spatially isolated collecting surfaces (2). The positive and negative ion emitters are spatially isolated from each other so that the outputs of each of the emitters do not reach the other emitter.