Apparatus and method for generating high current negative hydrogen ion beam

1. An apparatus to generate negative hydrogen ions, comprising:

an ion source chamber having a gas inlet to receive H 2 gas;

a light source directing radiation into the ion source chamber to generate excited H 2 molecules having an excited vibrational state from at least some of the H 2 gas;

a low energy electron source directing low energy electrons into the ion source chamber, wherein H − ions are generated from at least some of the excited H 2 molecules; and

an extraction assembly arranged to extract the H − ions from the ion source chamber, wherein the light source is embedded at least partially in a wall of the ion source chamber, or is disposed within the ion source chamber, the low energy electron source generating low energy electrons having an electron energy between 1.5 eV and 2.0 eV, the light source comprising radiation having a photon energy of 2.5 eV to 2.6 eV.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , the light source extending along a first side of the ion source chamber and along a second side of the ion source chamber.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , the low energy electron source extending along a third side of the ion source chamber and along a fourth side of the ion source chamber.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , the light source comprising a light-emitting diode, a laser, or a broad spectrum light source generating photons having energy meeting a threshold energy to promote the H 2 gas to the excited vibrational state.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a gas source comprising molecular hydrogen gas and coupled to the gas inlet.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a deflector assembly, the deflector assembly comprising a magnetic deflector or electrostatic deflector arranged to deflect monatomic hydrogen ions received from the ion source chamber to an extraction aperture of the extraction assembly.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising a recirculation line having an inlet connected to the deflector assembly to receive neutral hydrogen gas, and an outlet connected to the ion source chamber to discharge the neutral hydrogen gas into the ion source chamber.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a controller comprising logic to adjust electron energy of the low energy electrons.

9. An ion implantation system to generate a proton beam, comprising:

a negative ion source operative to generate negative hydrogen ions, the negative ion source comprising:

an ion source chamber having a gas inlet to receive H 2 gas;

a light source directing radiation into the ion source chamber to generate excited H 2 molecules having an excited vibrational state from at least some of the H 2 gas;

a low energy electron source directing low energy electrons into the ion source chamber, wherein H − ions are generated from at least some of excited H 2 molecules, wherein the light source is embedded in a wall of the ion source chamber, or is disposed within the ion source chamber, the low energy electron source generating low energy electrons having an electron energy between 1.5 eV and 2.0 eV, the light source comprising radiation having a photon energy of 2.5 eV to 2.6 eV;

an extraction assembly arranged to extract the H − ions from the ion source chamber; and a tandem accelerator to convert the H − ions into a beam of protons.

10. The ion implantation system of claim 9 , the ion source chamber having a chamber length in meters (m), wherein the negative ion source generates an ion source current density of H − ions of 0.1 Am −1 .

11. A method for generating a hydrogen ion beam, comprising:

providing molecular hydrogen gas to an ion source chamber;

exposing the molecular hydrogen gas to radiation from a light source wherein at least some of the molecular hydrogen gas is changed to excited H 2 species having an excited vibrational state, and wherein the light source is embedded in a wall of the ion source chamber, or is disposed within the ion source chamber;

directing low energy electrons into the excited H 2 species, wherein at least a fraction of the excited H 2 species forms H − ions, the low energy electron source generating low energy electrons having an electron energy between 1.5 eV and 2.0 eV, the light source comprising radiation having a photon energy of 2.5 eV to 2.6 eV; and

extracting the H − ions from the ion source chamber to form a beam of negative hydrogen ions.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the excited vibrational state is a vibrational state of v=3 or v>3.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising deflecting the H − ions from an initial trajectory to a final trajectory before the extracting the H − ions.