Ion source
AssigneeVarian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.
InventorsLudovic Godet, Timothy J. Miller, Joseph C. Olson, Vikram Singh
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Abstract
An ion source includes an arc chamber having an extraction aperture, and a plasma sheath modulator positioned in the arc chamber. The plasma sheath modulator is configured to control a shape of a boundary between a plasma and a plasma sheath proximate the extraction aperture, wherein the plasma sheath modulator includes a semiconductor. A well focused ion beam having a high current density can be generated by the ion source. A high current density ion beam can improve the throughput of an associated process. The emittance of the ion beam can also be controlled.
Claims19
An ion source comprising:
- an arc chamber having an extraction aperture;
- and
- a plasma sheath modulator positioned in the arc chamber and configured to control a shape of a boundary between a plasma and a plasma sheath proximate the extraction aperture, wherein the plasma sheath modulator comprises a semiconductor.
A method comprising:
- generating a plasma in an arc chamber of an ion source having an extraction aperture;
- extracting ions from the plasma into an ion beam during ON time intervals of a pulsed bias signal;
- and
- controlling a shape of a boundary between the plasma and a plasma sheath proximate the extraction aperture during the ON time intervals;
- and a plasma sheath modulator positioned in the arc chamber and configured to control a shape of a boundary between a plasma and a plasma sheath, wherein the plasma sheath modulator comprises a semiconductor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.