A low profile extraction electrode assembly including an insulator having a main body, a plurality of spaced apart mounting legs extending from a first face of the main body, a plurality of spaced apart mounting legs extending from a second face of the main body opposite the first face, the plurality of spaced apart mounting legs extending from the second face offset from the plurality of spaced apart mounting legs extending from the first face in a direction orthogonal to an axis of the main body, the low profile extraction electrode assembly further comprising a ground electrode fastened to the mounting legs extending from the first face, and a suppression electrode fastened to the mounting legs extending from the second face, wherein a tracking distance between the ground electrode and the suppression electrode is greater than a focal distance between the ground electrode and the suppression electrode.

A linear anode layer ion source is provided that includes a top pole having a linear ion emitting slit. An anode under the top pole has a slit aligned with the top pole ion emitting slit. At least one magnet creates a magnetic field that passes through the anode slit. Wherein the width of the anode slit is 3 mm or less. A process of generating an accelerated ion beam is also provided that includes flowing a gas into proximity to said anode. By energizing a power supply electron flow is induced to the anode and the gas is ionized. Accelerating the ions from the anode through the linear ion emitting slit generates an accelerated ion beam by a process superior to that using a racetrack-shaped slit.

The invention relates to a device for extracting electrical charge carriers from a charge carrier generation chamber with at least one electrode arrangement for extracting charge carriers, wherein the at least one electrode arrangement has at least a first grid electrode and a second grid electrode with corresponding openings. The first and the second grid electrode each contain at least one first electrically conductive grid electrode region, wherein the at least one first grid electrode region of the first grid electrode is configured in a first layer and the at least one first grid electrode region of the second grid electrode is configured in a second layer. The first layer and the second layer are arranged one after the other within the electrode arrangement in the particle emission direction and are spaced from one another by a first distance along the particle emission direction, wherein the at least one first grid electrode region of the first grid electrode forms a first electrically conductive layer portion in the first layer. In addition, a second electrically conductive layer portion, which is electrically insulated from the first layer portion, is configured in the first layer. The second layer portion is formed by at least one second electrically conductive grid electrode region of the first grid electrode or of the second grid electrode, and the second layer portion is electrically conductively connected to the at least one first grid electrode region of the second grid electrode. The device according to the invention for extracting charge carriers thus represents an electrically switchable extraction grid electrode arrangement by the aid of which the beam characteristics of a particle beam of extracted charge carriers can be changed.

The invention generally relates to sample analysis systems and methods of use thereof. In certain aspects, the invention provides a system for analyzing a sample that includes an ion generator configured to generate ions from a sample. The system additionally includes an ion separator configured to separate at or above atmospheric pressure the ions received from the ion generator without use of laminar flowing gas, and a detector that receives and detects the separated ions.

A generator of an ion beam is provided, including an ionisation chamber provided with an inlet of a fluid to be ionised; a source of ionising particles configured to impact the fluid in an impact zone of the ionisation chamber so as to generate ions; and an extractor of ions generated in a direction of an outlet zone of the generator, the extractor including at least two electrodes, a first electrode referred to as input electrode laterally bordering the impact zone, and at least one second electrode referred to as intermediate electrode located in the impact zone, the at least two electrodes being configured to generate a voltage gradient in the impact zone, with the voltage gradient being configured to direct the generated ions to the outlet zone of the generator.

An apparatus which has the capability of filtering unwanted species from an extracted ion beam without the use of a mass analyzer magnet is disclosed. The apparatus includes an ion source having chamber walls that are biased by an RF voltage. The use of RF extraction causes ions to exit the ion source at different energies, where the energy of each ion species is related to its mass. The extracted ion beam can then be filtered using only electrostatic energy filters to eliminate the unwanted species. The electrostatic energy filter may act as a high pass filter, allowing ions having an energy above a certain threshold to reach the workpiece. Alternatively, the electrostatic energy filter may act as a low pass filter, allowing ions having an energy below a certain threshold to reach the workpiece. In another embodiment, the electrostatic energy filter operates as a bandpass filter.

An apparatus for improving the uniformity of an ion beam is disclosed. The apparatus includes a heating element to heat an edge of the suppression electrode that is located furthest from the suppression aperture. In operation, the edge of the suppression electrode nearest to the suppression electrode may be heated by the ion beam. This heat may cause the suppression electrode to distort, affecting the uniformity of the ion beam. By heating the distal edge of the suppression electrode, the thermal distortion of the suppression electrode can be controlled. In other embodiments, the distal edge of the suppression electrode is heated to create a more uniform ion beam. By monitoring the uniformity of the ion beam downstream from the suppression electrode, such as by use of a beam uniformity profiler, a controller can adjust the heat applied to the distal edge to achieve the desired ion beam uniformity.

An apparatus which has the capability of filtering unwanted species from an extracted ion beam without the use of a mass analyzer magnet is disclosed. The apparatus includes an ion source having chamber walls that are biased by an RF voltage. The use of RF extraction causes ions to exit the ion source at different energies, where the energy of each ion species is related to its mass. The extracted ion beam can then be filtered using only electrostatic energy filters to eliminate the unwanted species. The electrostatic energy filter may act as a high pass filter, allowing ions having an energy above a certain threshold to reach the workpiece. Alternatively, the electrostatic energy filter may act as a low pass filter, allowing ions having an energy below a certain threshold to reach the workpiece. In another embodiment, the electrostatic energy filter operates as a bandpass filter.

A vented electrode that provides a directional stop to prevent energetic particles and secondaries (i.e., secondary electrons, charged particles, photons) generated in the vent channel from reaching into a gap outside of the electrode plate. For example, ventilation is added to at least one electrode, via vented inserts, wherein the vents do not provide a direct line of sight from at least one side of the electrode plate to the other.

Provided is an ion beam processing apparatus including an ion generation chamber, a processing chamber, and electrodes to form an ion beam by extracting ions generated in the ion generation chamber to the processing chamber. The electrodes includes a first electrode disposed close to the ion generation chamber and provided with an ion passage hole to allow passage of the ions, and a second electrode disposed adjacent to the first electrode and closer to the processing chamber than the first electrode is, and provided with an ion passage hole to allow passage of the ions. The apparatus also includes a power unit which applies different electric potentials to the first electrode and the second electrode, respectively, so as to accelerate the ions generated by an ion generator in the ion generation chamber. A material of the first electrode is different from a material of the second electrode.