
7
The different types of ion beam sources are delineated by the specifics of the four (4) key elements.
In this introduction, ion beam sources will be classified as either direct current (DC) or radio
frequency (RF). A brief, physical description of each of the four elements is presented below.
Discharge Chamber
: The discharge chamber is where the source gas is ionized
For DC sources, the discharge chamber is referred to as the
body
. The body will have a magnetic
field produced using permanent magnets. The purpose of the magnetic field is to control the
motion of electrons such that they have several ionizing collisions with the source gas occur before
being collected on the anode.
For RF sources, the discharge chamber consists of a dielectric material permeable to the RF field
produced by the antenna. The RF field ionizes the source gas introduced within the discharge
chamber.
Electron Source
: Mechanism by which electrons are produced to ionize the source gas.
For DC sources, the electron source can be either a hot filament or a hollow cathode. Typically, a
filament consists of a tungsten wire which is heated to emit electrons. A hollow cathode is a device
which produces electrons by locally ionizing its own feed gas. The electrons from either the
filament or hollow cathode are then used to ionize the source gas, which, for the hollow cathode
case, may be the same gas it used. The electrons have several ionizing collisions before being
collected at the anode surface in a DC source.
For RF sources, the RF field energizes free electrons in the working gas. The energetic electrons
have ionizing collisions with the source gas thereby producing ions and additional electrons. As ions
leave the discharge chamber, electrons are collected on the screen grid surface.
Grids
: The electrostatic apertures by which the ions from the discharge are extracted
Grids are electrodes separated from each other by a few millimeters. Each grid has several apertures that
are aligned and allow for the extraction of ions. The grid closest to the discharge chamber is referred to as
the
screen (or S) grid
. Moving downstream, the next grid is referred to the
accelerator (or A) grid
. On
some sources, a third grid is used which is the furthest downstream from the discharge chamber and it is
referred to as the
decelerator (or D) grid
.