The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 20, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 07, 2001
Malcolm W. McGeoch, Brookline, MA (US);
Plex LLC, Brookline, MA (US);
Abstract
A source of photons includes a discharge chamber, first and second groups of ion beam sources in the discharge chamber and a neutralizing mechanism. Each of the ion beam sources electrostatically accelerates a beam of ions of a working gas toward a plasma discharge region. The first group of ion beam sources acts as a cathode and the second group of ion beam sources acts as an anode for delivering a heating current to the plasma discharge region. The neutralizing mechanism at least partially neutralizes the ion beams before they enter the plasma discharge region. The neutralized beams and the heating current form a hot plasma that radiates photons. The photons may be in the soft x-ray or extreme ultraviolet wavelength range and, in one embodiment, have wavelengths in a range of about 10-15 nanometers.