An ion source having dual indirectly heated cathodes is disclosed. Each of the cathodes may be independently biased relative to its respective filament so as to vary the profile of the beam current that is extracted from the ion source. In certain embodiments, the ion source is used in conjunction with an ion implanter. The ion implanter comprises a beam profiler to measure the current of the ribbon ion beam as a function of beam position. A controller uses this information to independently control the bias voltages of the two indirectly heated cathodes so as to vary the uniformity of the ribbon ion beam. In certain embodiments, the current passing through each filament may also be independently controlled by the controller.

A collision ionization ion source comprising: A pair of stacked plates, sandwiched about an intervening gap; An input zone (aperture), provided in a first of said plates, to admit an input beam of charged particles to said gap; An output zone (aperture), located opposite said input zone and provided in the second of said plates, to allow emission of a flux of ions from said gap; A gas space, between said input and output zones, in which gas can be ionized by said input beam so as to produce said ions; A supply duct in said gap, for supplying a flow of said gas to said gas space, and comprising: An emergence orifice, opening into said gas space; An entrance orifice, connectable to a gas supply,
wherein said duct comprises at least one transition region between said entrance orifice and said emergence orifice in which an inner height of said duct, measured normal to the plates, decreases from a first height value to a second height value.

A collision ionization ion source comprising: A pair of stacked plates, sandwiched about an intervening gap; An input zone (aperture), provided in a first of said plates, to admit an input beam of charged particles to said gap; An output zone (aperture), located opposite said input zone and provided in the second of said plates, to allow emission of a flux of ions from said gap; A gas space, between said input and output zones, in which gas can be ionized by said input beam so as to produce said ions; A supply duct in said gap, for supplying a flow of said gas to said gas space, and comprising: An emergence orifice, opening into said gas space; An entrance orifice, connectable to a gas supply,
wherein said duct comprises at least one transition region between said entrance orifice and said emergence orifice in which an inner height of said duct, measured normal to the plates, decreases from a first height value to a second height value.

The IHC ion source comprises an ion source chamber having a cathode and a repeller on opposite ends. The ion source chamber is constructed of a ceramic material having very low electrical conductivity. An electrically conductive liner may be inserted into the ion source chamber and may cover three sides of the ion source chamber. The liner may be electrically connected to the faceplate, which contains the extraction aperture. The electrical connections for the cathode and repeller pass through apertures in the ceramic material. In this way, the apertures may be made smaller than otherwise possible as there is no risk of arcing. In certain embodiments, the electrical connections are molded into the ion source chamber or are press fit in the apertures. Further, the ceramic material used for the ion source chamber is more durable and introduces less contaminants to the extracted ion beam.

A particle charger is provided with: a filter (28) partitioning the inside of a housing (20) into a first space (29) and second space (30); a particle introducer (22) for introducing a particle into the first space; a gas ion supplier (10) for supplying the first space with a gas ion; a potential gradient creator (26, 27, 31) for creating a potential difference within the housing so as to make the gas ion and a charged particle resulting from a contact of the aforementioned particle with the gas ion move toward the second space; an AC voltage supplier (32, 33) for applying AC voltages having a phase difference to the neighboring electrodes (28a, b) included in the filter; a controller (35) for performing a control for applying, to the plurality of electrodes, predetermined voltages so as to allow the charged particle to pass through a gap between the electrodes while trapping the gas ion by the electrodes; and a charged particle extractor (23, 25, 34) for extracting the charged particle admitted to the second space to the outside of the housing. By this configuration, the occurrence frequency of the multi-charging is suppressed.

A plasma generator for an ion implanter is provided. The plasma generator includes an ionization chamber for forming a plasma that is adapted to generate a plurality of ions and a plurality of electrons. An interior surface of the ionization chamber is exposed to the plasma and constructed from a first non-metallic material. The plasma generator also includes a thermionic emitter including at least one surface exposed to the plasma. The thermionic emitter is constructed from a second non-metallic material. The plasma generator further includes an exit aperture for extracting at least one of the plurality of ions or the plurality of electrons from the ionization chamber to form at least one of an ion beam or an electron flux. The ion beam or the electron flux comprises substantially no metal. The first and second non-metallic materials can be the same or different from each other.

The invention relates to an ionization device with an ionization space formed in a container, an inlet system for supplying a gas to be ionized to the ionization space, an electron source having at least one filament for supply of an electron beam to the ionization space, and an outlet system for letting the ionized gas out of the ionization space. Electron optics having at least two electrodes are disposed between the filament and the ionization space.

The IHC ion source comprises an ion source chamber having a cathode and a repeller on opposite ends. The repeller is made of two discrete parts, each comprising a different material. The repeller includes a repeller head, which may be a disc shaped component, and a stem to support the head. The repeller head is made from a conductive material having a higher thermal conductivity than the stem. In this way, the temperature of the repeller head is maintained at a higher temperature than would otherwise be possible. The higher temperature limits the build-up of material on the repeller head, which improves the performance of the IHC ion source. In certain embodiments, the repeller head and the stem are connected using a press fit. Differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion of the repeller head and the stem may cause the press fit to become tighter at higher temperatures.

An indirectly heated cathode (IHC) ion source having improved life is disclosed. The IHC ion source comprises a chamber having a cathode and a repeller on opposite ends of the ion source. Biased electrodes are disposed on one or more sides of the ion source. The bias voltage applied to at least one of the cathode, the repeller and the electrodes, relative to the chamber, is varied over time. In certain embodiments, the voltage applied to the electrodes may begin at an initial positive voltage. Over time, this voltage may be reduced, while still maintaining the target ion beam current. Advantageously, the life of the cathode is improved using this technique.

The IHC ion source comprises an ion source chamber having a cathode and a repeller on opposite ends. The ion source chamber is constructed of a ceramic material having very low electrical conductivity. An electrically conductive liner may be inserted into the ion source chamber and may cover three sides of the ion source chamber. The liner may be electrically connected to the faceplate, which contains the extraction aperture. The electrical connections for the cathode and repeller pass through apertures in the ceramic material. In this way, the apertures may be made smaller than otherwise possible as there is no risk of arcing. In certain embodiments, the electrical connections are molded into the ion source chamber or are press fit in the apertures. Further, the ceramic material used for the ion source chamber is more durable and introduces less contaminants to the extracted ion beam.