A versatile broad-beam ion source

A broad-beam ion source has been developed for thin-film technology and ion implantation. A broad ion beam of 20–3000 eV and 100 mA can be extracted from the source. Three shapes of beam can be produced that are suitable for appropriate thin-film processes, uniform, convergent, and spherically divergent beams. The ion optics for forming these multishaped beams is discussed. According to the various beam-extraction energy, triple, double, and single grids are employed. A single-grid system is used for an ion energy less than 200 eV. It can operate with a variety of gases, such as N2, O2, Ar, CH4, etc. The source has been applied to ion-beam sputtering deposition, ion-beam direct deposition, ion-beam-assisted deposition, and ion implanter without mass analyzer.