Drift tube field driving system and method

A method of driving a drift tube voltage of an ion mobility subsystem, comprising:

• generating, by a first power supply, a first polarity voltage;
• generating, by a second power supply, a second polarity voltage, each of the first power supply and the second power supply comprising a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller;
• using a first photodiode-based switch, selectively applying the first polarity voltage to a node;
• using a second photodiode-based switch, selectively applying the second polarity voltage to the node;
• and
• electrically coupling the node to the drift tube.

A drift tube voltage driving subsystem, comprising:

• a high voltage base module configured to generate at least one high-voltage output;
• a high voltage deck module arranged parallel to and spaced apart from the high voltage base module;
• and
• an interconnect module arranged perpendicular to the high voltage base module and the high voltage deck module, the interconnect module electrically and mechanically coupled to the high voltage base module and to the high voltage deck module, the interconnect module configured to electrically couple the at least one high-voltage output from the high-voltage base module to the high voltage deck, and the high-voltage deck module configured to generate a grid voltage based on the at least one high-voltage output and to convey the grid voltage to the drift tube.

An ion mobility detector system, comprising:

• an ion mobility detector hardware subsystem comprising a drift tube and one or more control grids;
• a voltage driving subsystem configured to drive voltages to the drift tube and the one or more control grids, the voltage driving subsystem comprising a switching power supply having a periodic switching waveform characterized by a switching frequency;
• and
• a data acquisition system configured to detect ions that have completed propagation through the drift tube, and sampling events of the data acquisition system are synchronized with the switching frequency such that the sampling events occur at a consistent time with respect to the switching waveform.