Ion Analysis Method and Ion Analyzer

An ion analysis method comprising:

• an ionization step of ionizing a measurement target;
• an ion input step of inputting target ions, which are ions obtained in the ionization step or ions derived from the ions obtained in the ionization step, into a moving space which is adjusted to a predetermined gas pressure and in which gravity acts and an electric field acting on the ions in a direction orthogonal to or oblique to a direction of an action of the gravity is formed;
• a separation step of spatially separating the target ions input to the moving space from other ions using motions of ions reflecting a difference in size and mass of ions due to the action of gravity and motions reflecting a difference in charge of the ions due to an action of the electric field in the moving space;
• and
• a detection step of detecting at least a part of the target ions separated in the separation step.

An ion analyzer comprising:

• an ionization unit configured to ionize a measurement target;
• an analysis chamber having an internal moving space which is adjusted to a predetermined gas pressure to allow particles to perform Brownian motion and in which gravity acts;
• an electric field forming unit configured to selectively form an electric field in the moving space;
• an ion input unit configured to input a target ion, which is an ion generated by the ionization unit or an ion derived from the ion generated by the ionization unit, into the moving space;
• a measurement execution unit configured to acquire, for the target ion input to the moving space, first information relating to a motion by actions of gravity and the electric field and second information relating to Brownian motion;
• and
• an arithmetic processing unit configured to obtain a mass or a charge of the target ion on the basis of the first information and the second information.

An ion analyzer comprising:

• an ionization unit configured to ionize a measurement target;
• an analysis chamber having an internal moving space which is adjusted to a predetermined gas pressure and in which gravity acts;
• an electric field forming unit configured to selectively form, inside the moving space, an electric field acting on ions in a direction orthogonal to or oblique to a direction of an action of gravity;
• an ion input unit configured to input target ions, which are ions generated by the ionization unit or ions derived from the ions generated by the ionization unit, into the moving space;
• and
• a detection unit configured to detect at least a part of the target ions spatially separated from other ions by motions of the ions reflecting a difference in size and mass of ions due to the action of gravity and motions reflecting a difference in charge of the ions due to an action of the electric field in the moving space.