RF Ion Source for IBD / IBAD Processing and Deposition

Beams of accelerated ions are used to modify and erode surfaces under vacuum conditions. By carefully selecting the energy and composition of an ion-beam, this can be used, for example, to improve significantly the characteristics of a growing film by both densifying the film and modifying the chemical composition of the film. Alternatively, ion beams can be used to erode (mill) existing films or sputter a target material to project a plume of material for deposition on a substrate. In the latter case, the growing films can have excellent qualities for many applications owing to the elevated kinetic energy of the sputtered material.

High Current Density and High Purity
The RFMax Series are designed to operate with high current density and low contamination levels.  The enhanced plasma is entirely contained within a high-purity ceramic zone resulting in the minimum of metallic contamination.  The sources use either a dual or triple grid system to accelerate the ion beam towards the target.  The grid configuration is carefully arranged to ensure minimal beam impingement on the outer grids resulting in maximum beam throughput and prolonged grid lifetime.

The discharge zone is manufactured from high-quality materials ensuring minimal contamination of the beam.   The source incorporates a zero-ion current configuration as standard and can be fitted with a unique beam-thermaliser to reduce the energy of the small fraction of energetic neutrals which commonly emerge from all plasma-based atom sources.The end-user can define the optimum gas flow by selecting from a range of different end-plates. These plates can be further customized to give maximum uniformity for a given sample size, distance and angle to the source.

New Automation Accessoires for RF Plasma Source:

• Plasma emission monitoring. The sources can be equipped with an optical monitoring system to give a precise measurement of the intensity of the plasma emission lines, and hence a relative measure of the atomic flux emerging from the source.
• Plasma Control. In Conjunction with emission monitoring, this option allows control of the RF power to maintain a constant emission intensity and hence a constant atomic flux.

• Automatic Tuning. The sources use a manual tuning unit as standard to match the impedance of the source to the RF power supply. This can be replaced with an automatic tuning unit to automate the process both at start-up and during operation.

Model	RFMax30	RFMax60	RFMax130
Beam Diameter (at source exit)	30 mm	60 mm	130 mm
Beam Current Density	>5mA/cm2	>6mA/cm2	>3mA/cm2
RF Power Supply	600 Watts	600 Watts	1000 Watts
RF Tuning	Manual*	Manual*	Automatic
Beam Energy	50-1000eV	50-1000eV	100-1000eV
DC Power Supply	screen grid	screen grid	screen and accel. grids
Gas Flow Rate	5-20 sccm	5-20 sccm	5-30 sccm
Water Cooling (@ 20oC)	0.5 liters/sec	0.5 liters/sec	0.5 liters/sec
In-vacuum Diameter	59 mm	98 mm	198 mm
Mounting Flange	NW63CF (4.5")	NW100CF (6”)	NW200CF (10”)

*Automatic Tuning optional

NOTE:  Specifications subject to change without prior notification.

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