Double plasma ion source

1. An ion source, comprising:

a first plasma chamber including a plasma generating component and a first gas inlet for receiving a first gas such that said plasma generating component and said first gas interact to generate a first plasma including electrons within said first plasma chamber, wherein said first plasma chamber further defines an aperture for extracting electrons from said first plasma; and

a second plasma chamber including a second gas inlet for receiving a second gas, wherein said second plasma chamber further defines an aperture in fluid communication with the aperture of said first plasma chamber, for receiving electrons extracted therefrom, such that the electrons and the second gas interact to generate a second plasma within said second plasma chamber, said second plasma chamber further defining an extraction aperture for extracting ions from said second plasma chamber,

wherein said first plasma chamber further defines a pumping aperture forming a passageway into a high vacuum region that is not the second plasma chamber, wherein the pumping aperture has an area dimension greater than an area dimension associated with the aperture of the first plasma chamber for extracting electrons from said first plasma chamber.

2. The ion source of claim 1 , wherein the plasma generating component comprises a cathode and an anode.

3. The ion source of claim 1 , wherein the plasma generating component comprises an RF antenna.

4. The ion source of claim 1 , further comprising a biasing power supply for creating a relative voltage differential between said first and second plasma chambers to effect transport of the extracted electrons from the first plasma chamber to the second plasma chamber.

5. The ion source of claim 1 , wherein the first gas comprises at least one of the following: an inert gas such as argon (Ar) or xenon (Xe), a standard implant gas such as boron trifluoride (BF 3 ), arsine (AsH 3 ) or phosphine (PH 3 ) or a reactive gas such as NF 3 or O 2 .

6. The ion source of claim 1 , wherein the second gas comprises at least one of the following: an inert gas such as argon (Ar) or xenon (Xe), a standard implant gas such as boron trifluoride (BF 3 ), arsine (AsH 3 ) or phosphine (PH 3 ), a reactive gas such as NF 3 or O 2 , or a large molecule gas such as decaborane (B 10 H 14 ) or octadecaborane (B 18 H 22 ).

7. The ion source of claim 1 , further comprising an extraction electrode assembly associated with the extraction aperture, wherein the extraction electrode assembly is operable to extract ions from the ion source to generally form an ion beam.

8. An ion implantation system including an ion source, comprising:

a first plasma chamber including a plasma generating component and a first gas inlet for receiving a first gas such that said plasma generating component and said first gas interact to generate a first plasma within said first plasma chamber, wherein said first plasma chamber further defines an aperture for extracting electrons from said first plasma; and

a second plasma chamber including a second gas inlet for receiving a second gas, wherein said second plasma chamber further defines an aperture in fluid communication with the aperture of said first plasma chamber, for receiving electrons extracted therefrom, such that the electrons and the second gas interact to generate a second plasma within said second plasma chamber, said second plasma chamber further defining an extraction aperture for extracting ions from said second plasma chamber,

wherein said first plasma chamber further defines a pumping aperture forming a passageway into a high vacuum region that is not the second plasma chamber, wherein the pumping aperture has an area dimension greater than an area dimension associated with the aperture of the first plasma chamber for extracting electrons from said first plasma chamber.

9. The ion source of claim 8 , wherein the plasma generating component comprises a cathode heater and an anode.

10. The ion source of claim 8 , wherein the plasma generating component comprises an RF antenna.

11. The ion source of claim 8 , further comprising a biasing power supply for creating a relative voltage differential between said first and second plasma chambers to effect transport of the extracted electrons from the first plasma chamber to the second plasma chamber.

12. The ion source of claim 8 , further comprising an extraction apparatus associated with the extraction aperture, wherein the extraction apparatus is operable to extract ions from the ion source to generally form an ion beam.

13. An ion implantation system, comprising:

a double plasma ion source to produce an ion beam;

a beamline assembly comprising a mass analyzer for receiving said ion beam from said ion source and providing a mass analyzed ion beam comprising ions of a desired mass-energy ratio; and

an end station configured for implanting a workpiece with said ion beam,

wherein the double plasma ion source further comprises:

a first plasma chamber including a plasma generating component and a first gas inlet for receiving a first gas such that said plasma generating component and said first gas interact to generate a first plasma including electrons within said first plasma chamber, wherein said first plasma chamber further defines an aperture for extracting electrons from said first plasma; and

a second plasma chamber including a second gas inlet for receiving a second gas, wherein said second plasma chamber further defines an aperture in fluid communication with the aperture of said first plasma chamber, for receiving electrons extracted therefrom, such that the electrons and the second gas interact to generate a second plasma within said second plasma chamber, said second plasma chamber further defining an extraction aperture for extracting ions from said second plasma chamber

wherein said first plasma chamber further defines a pumping aperture forming a passageway into a high vacuum region that is not the second plasma chamber, wherein the pumping aperture has an area dimension greater than an area dimension associated with the aperture of the first plasma chamber for extracting electrons from said first plasma chamber.

14. The ion implantation system of claim 13 , wherein the ion source further comprises an extraction apparatus associated with the extraction aperture, wherein the extraction apparatus is operable to extract ions from the ion source to generally form said ion beam.

15. The ion implantation system of claim 13 , wherein the ion source further comprises a biasing power supply for creating a relative voltage differential between said first and second plasma chambers and to effect transport of the extracted electrons from the first plasma chamber to the second plasma chamber.

16. The ion implantation system of claim 13 , wherein the plasma generating component further comprises a cathode, an anode, or an RF antenna.