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:
Apr. 20, 2004
Filed:
Apr. 01, 2003
Harold R. Kaufman, Laporte, CO (US);
James R. Kahn, Ft. Collins, CO (US);
Viacheslav V. Zhurin, Ft. Collins, CO (US);
Kaufman & Robinson, Inc., Ft. Collins, CO (US);
Abstract
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the ion-beam apparatus takes the form of a gridless ion source with a hot-filament cathode-neutralizer, in which the hot filament is heated with a current from the cathode-neutralizer heater. The cathode-neutralizer is connected to the negative terminal of the discharge supply for the gridless ion source. This connection is substantially isolated from ground (the potential of the surrounding vacuum chamber, which is usually at earth ground) and its potential is measured relative to ground. The heater current to the cathode-neutralizer is controlled by adjusting it so as to maintain this potential in a narrow operating range. This control can be manual or automatic.