Eaton Corporation

International Business Machines Corporation

Axcelis Technologies, Inc.

Jiong Chen

Victor M Benveniste

Frank Sinclair

Peter Lawrence Kellerman

Brian S Freer

A Stuart Denholm

Joseph L Malenfant, Jr

Philip J Ring

Scott T Barusso

John Francis Grant

Ronald A Capodilupo

Lawrence T Jacobs

Kui Jin

The present invention provides a method of extending, i.e. prolonging, the operating lifetime of hot cathode discharge ion source by utilizing and introducing a nitrogen-containing co-bleed gas into an ion implantation apparatus which contains at least a hot cathode discharge ion source and an ion implantation gas such as GeF,.

Method to operate GEF4 gas in hot cathode discharge ion sources

A filament (,) for an ion implanter ion source or plasma shower is provided comprising first and second legs (,) and a thermally emissive central portion (,) having ends connected, respectively, to the first and second legs. Preferably, the legs (,) are constructed from tantalum (Ta), and the thermally emissive portion (,) is constructed of tungsten (W). The thermally emissive portion is coiled substantially along the entire length thereof and formed in the shape of a generally closed loop, such as a toroid. The toroid is comprised of two toroid halves (,) coiled in opposite directions. The toroid halves are constructed of a plurality of filament strands (,) twisted together along substantially the entire length thereof. The coils of the toroid are capable of establishing closed loop magnetic field lines (B) therein when electrical current flows through the thermally emissive portion. The closed loop magnetic field lines (B) confine electrons (E) emitted from the surface of the thermally emissive portion within the confines of the coils.

Toroidal filament for plasma generation

Method and apparatus for causing ions to impact a workpiece implantation surface. A process chamber defines a chamber interior into which one or more workpieces can be inserted for ion treatment. An energy source sets up an ion plasma within the process chamber. A support positions one or more workpieces within an interior region of the process chamber so that an implantation surface of the one or more workpieces is positioned within the ion plasma. A pulse generator in electrical communication with the workpiece support applies electrical pulses for attracting ions to the support. One or more dosimetry cups including an electrically biased ion collecting surface are disposed around the workpiece support to measure implantation current. An implantation controller monitors signals from the one or more dosimetry cups to control ion implantation of the workpiece.

Dosimetry cup charge collection in plasma immersion ion implantation

An improved ion beam neutralizer (22) is provided for neutralizing the electrical charge of an ion beam (28) output from an extraction aperture (50). The neutralizer comprises a source of water (52); a vaporizer (54) connected to the source of water; a mass flow controller (56) connected to the vaporizer; and an inlet (60) connected to the mass flow controller. The vaporizer (54) converts water from the source (52) from a liquid state to a vapor state. The mass flow controller (56) receives water vapor from the vaporizer (54) and meters the volume of water vapor output by a mass flow controller outlet (66). The inlet (60) is provided with an injection port (68) located proximate the ion beam extraction aperture (50) and receives the metered volume from the outlet (66). The injection port (68) is positioned near the extraction aperture so that the ion beam and the water vapor interact to neutralize the ion beam. The improved ion beam neutralizer (22) is especially effective in low energy (less than ten kilo-electron volts (10 KeV)) beam applications.

System and method for neutralizing an ion beam using water vapor

Method and apparatus for maintaining an ion beam along a beam path from an ion source to an ion implantation station where workpieces are treated with the ion beam. An ion beam neutralizer is positioned upstream from the ion treatment station and includes confinement structure which bounds the ion beam path. An electron source positioned within the confinement structure emits electrons into the ion beam. An array of magnets supported by the confinement structure creates a magnetic field which tends to confine the electrons moving within the confinement structure. An interior magnetic filter field is created inside the confinement structure by a plurality of axially elongated filter rods having encapsulated magnets bounding the ion beam and oriented generally parallel to the ion beam path. This interior magnetic field confines higher energy electrons from leaving the ion beam path and permits lower energy electrons to drift along the ion beam.

Method and apparatus for ion beam neutralization

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Beverly, MA, United States of America

Jiong Chen