Isothermal ion source with auxiliary heaters
AssigneeSHINE Technologies, LLC
InventorsDaniel Martin, Joseph Sherman, Sarko Cherekdjian
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ion source includes a chamber having a first end, a second end opposite the first end, a first wall extending from the first end to the second end, and a second wall opposite the first wall. The ion source also includes a source filament at the first end of the chamber and configured to emit electrons and a first amount of heat, a beam aperture at the second wall of the chamber, and one or more heaters positioned within the chamber and between the second end and the beam aperture and operable to provide a second amount of heat. The one or more heaters are positioned and operable such that the second amount of heat balances the first amount of heat to reduce or eliminate a temperature gradient in the chamber.
Claims20
An ion source comprising:
- a chamber having a first end, a second end opposite the first end, a first wall extending from the first end to the second end, and a second wall opposite the first wall;
- a source filament at the first end of the chamber and configured to emit electrons and a first amount of heat;
- a beam aperture at the second wall of the chamber;
- and
- one or more heaters positioned within the chamber and between the second end and the beam aperture and operable to provide a second amount of heat;
- wherein the one or more heaters are positioned and operable such that the second amount of heat balances the first amount of heat to reduce or eliminate a temperature gradient in the chamber.
A method, comprising:
- providing a metallic gas into a chamber;
- ionizing the metallic gas by providing power to a filament to cause the filament to emit electrons in the chamber, wherein providing power to the filament causes the filament to add heat to the chamber proximate a first end of the chamber;
- reducing or eliminating a temperature gradient in the chamber by operating one or more heaters positioned in the chamber, the one or more heaters positioned inside the chamber and extending from a second end of the chamber opposite the first end;
- and
- extracting an ion beam from the chamber via an aperture positioned between the filament and the one or more heaters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.