Apparatus for generating a plasma

An apparatus for generating a plasma comprising:

• a vacuum chamber (1) comprising a wall (2) having an outer surface (3) and an inner surface (4),
• a plasma source (5) comprising:
• one or more devices for exciting the plasma (6), each of said devices for exciting the plasma (6) comprising a coaxial microwave connector (7) able to be connected to a microwave energy source and a loop antenna (9) able to emit a microwave energy for exciting the plasma,
• means for generating a constant magnetic field around the plasma in order to couple microwave energy into plasma at electron cyclotron resonance,
• characterised in that:
• the coaxial microwave connector (7) of the device for exciting the plasma (6) is connected to the loop antenna (9) on one side, and is able to be directly connected to the microwave energy source via a coaxial line on the other side,
• the loop antenna (9) of the one or more devices for exciting the plasma (6) is positioned inside the vacuum chamber (1) in order to be in contact with the plasma, and
• the means for generating a constant magnetic field comprises at least two magnetic dipoles (10) placed on the outer wall surface (3) of the vacuum chamber (1), each of said one or more devices for exciting the plasma (6) having said two magnetic dipoles (10) placed on both sides.