Accelerated ion beam generator
OwnerLee Cheninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A beam of accelerated ions (111) is produced from a quiescent plasma (19) created by diffusing a heated primary plasma (15) through an accelerator/homogenizer structure (17) having a uniform voltage potential VB and a total surface area ARF. The RF-conductive, dielectric coated surfaces of the accelerator/homogenizer structure are quasi-uniformly dispersed throughout the primary plasma. The quiescent plasma has a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA approximately equal to VB. An RF-grounded structure (112) having a total ground surface area AG, wherein ARF>AG, attracts ions from the quiescent plasma to produce the accelerated ion beam.
Claims8
An accelerated ion beam generator, comprising:
- a power source that heats a primary plasma;
- an accelerator/homogenizer structure having a total dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surface area ARF that comprises a plurality of RF-conductive dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces quasi-uniformly dispersed throughout said primary plasma, said accelerator/homogenizer structure has a uniform voltage potential VB;
- a quiescent plasma produced when said primary plasma diffuses through said accelerator/homogenizer structure, said quiescent plasma has a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA approximately equal to VB;
- and
- an RF-grounded structure having a total ground surface area AG, wherein ARF>AG, said RF-grounded structure attracts ions from said quiescent plasma.
An accelerated ion beam generation system, comprising:
- a power source that heats a primary plasma;
- an accelerator/homogenizer structure having a total dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surface area ARF that comprises a plurality of RF-conductive dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces quasi-uniformly dispersed throughout said primary plasma, said accelerator/homogenizer structure has a uniform voltage potential VB;
- a quiescent plasma produced when said primary plasma diffuses through said accelerator/homogenizer structure, said quiescent plasma has a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA approximately equal to VB;
- and
- an RF-grounded structure having a total ground surface area AG, wherein ARF>AG, said RF-grounded structure attracts ions from said quiescent plasma.
A method to manufacture an accelerated ion beam generator, comprising:
- providing a power source that heats a primary plasma;
- providing an accelerator/homogenizer structure having a total dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surface area ARF that comprises a plurality of RF-conductive dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces quasi-uniformly dispersed throughout said primary plasma, said accelerator/homogenizer structure has a uniform voltage potential VB;
- generating a quiescent plasma by diffusing said primary plasma through said accelerator/homogenizer structure, said quiescent plasma has a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA approximately equal to VB;
- and
- providing an RF-grounded structure having a total ground surface area AG, wherein ARF>AG, said RF-grounded structure attracts ions from said quiescent plasma.
A method that generates an accelerated ion beam, comprising:
- heating a primary plasma using a power source;
- quasi-uniformly dispersing a plurality of RF-conductive dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces having a total surface area ARF throughout said primary plasma, wherein said plurality of RF-conductive dielectric coated accelerator/homogenizer surfaces couple together to form an accelerator/homogenizer structure having a uniform voltage potential VB;
- generating a quiescent plasma by diffusing said primary plasma through said accelerator/homogenizer structure, said quiescent plasma has a generally homogenous preselected plasma potential VPA approximately equal to VB;
- and
- attracting ions from said quiescent plasma using an RF-grounded structure having a total ground surface area AG, wherein ARF>AG.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.