Plasma bridge neutralizer for ion beam etching

A broad ion beam system comprising:

• an ion beam generator for providing a beam of ions;
• and
• a plasma bridge neutralizer (PBN) for generating low energy electrons, comprising:
• a plasma generation chamber operably connected to a chamber power source, the chamber having an interior volume defined by a wall structure and a floor structure having a entered chamber discharge orifice for extracting the electrons from the PBN chamber as low energy electrons;
• an inert gas source operably connected to the interior volume;
• a thermo-emitting cathode filament within the interior volume and operably connected to a filament power source;
• a magnetic field generator configured to generate a magnetic field within the chamber parallel to an axis of the PBN;
• and
• a magnetic concentrator surrounding the chamber and having an aperture aligned with the chamber discharge orifice, the magnetic concentrator inhibiting the magnetic field from exiting the PBN.