  Gas-filled stopping cells are used at accelerator laboratories for the
thermalization of high-energy radioactive ion beams. Common challenges of many
stopping cells are a high molecular background of extracted ions and
limitations of extraction efficiency due to space-charge effects. At the FRS
Ion Catcher at GSI, a new technique for removal of ionized molecules prior to
their extraction out of the stopping cell has been developed. This technique
utilizes the RF carpet for the separation of atomic ions from molecular
contaminant ions through their difference in ion mobility. Results from the
successful implementation and test during an experiment with a 600~MeV/u
$^{124}$Xe primary beam are presented. Suppression of molecular contaminants by
three orders of magnitude has been demonstrated. Essentially background-free
measurement conditions with less than $1~\%$ of background events within a
mass-to-charge range of 25 u/e have been achieved. The technique can also be
used to reduce the space-charge effects at the extraction nozzle and in the
downstream beamline, thus ensuring high efficiency of ion transport and
highly-accurate measurements under space-charge-free conditions.
