Disclosed are a device and method for improved interfacing of differential
mobility spectrometry (DMS) or field asymmetric waveform ion mobility
spectrometry (FAIMS) analyzers of substantially planar geometry to
subsequent or preceding instrument stages. Interfacing is achieved using
curved DMS elements, where a thick ion beam emitted by planar DMS
analyzers or injected into them for ion filtering is compressed to the
gap median by DMS ion focusing effect in a spatially inhomogeneous
electric field. Resulting thinner beams are more effectively transmitted
through necessarily constrained conductance limit apertures to subsequent
instrument stages operated at a pressure lower than DMS, and/or more
effectively injected into planar DMS analyzers. The technology is
synergetic with slit apertures, slit aperture/ion funnels, and
high-pressure ion funnel interfaces known in the art which allow for
increasing cross-sectional area of MS inlets. The invention may be used
in integrated analytical platforms, including, e.g., DMS/MS, LC/DMS/MS,
and DMS/IMS/MS that could replace and/or enhance current LC/MS methods,
e.g., for proteomics research.