Ion Beam System and Method of Operating Ion Beam System

An ion beam system having an ion beam path, the system comprising:

• a voltage supply system;
• an ion beam source configured to generate an ion beam;
• an acceleration electrode traversed by the ion beam path and electrically connected to the voltage supply system, wherein the voltage supply system is configured to supply an adjustable acceleration voltage to the acceleration electrode;
• and
• at least one beam deflector positioned downstream of the acceleration electrode in the ion beam path;
• wherein the at least one beam deflector comprises:
• at least one first deflection electrode;
• and
• plural second deflection electrodes electrically connected to the voltage supply system and positioned opposite to the first deflection electrode and distributed along the ion beam path, and
• wherein the voltage supply system is configured to supply different adjustable deflection voltages to the plural second deflection electrodes such that electric deflection fields between the plural second deflection electrodes and the opposite at least one first deflection electrode have a common orientation.

A method of operating an ion beam system, wherein the method comprises:

• accelerating ions of an ion beam to a first kinetic energy and deflecting the ion beam into a first direction using an electric deflection field having a first field distribution along the ion beam;
• and subsequently,
• accelerating ions of the ion beam to a second kinetic energy and deflecting the ion beam into the first direction using the electric deflection field having a second field distribution along the ion beam;
• wherein the first kinetic energy is greater then the second kinetic energy;
• and wherein a width of the first field distribution is greater than a width of the second field distribution.