Focused negative ion beam field source
An apparatus for producing negative ions including an emitter coated with an ionic liquid room-temperature molten salt, an electrode positioned downstream relative to the emitter, a power supply that applies a voltage to the emitter with respect to the electrode. The power supply is sufficient to generate a stable high brightness beam of negative ions having minimal chromatic and spherical aberrations in the beam. An electrostatic lens and deflector is used to focus and direct the beam to a target.
1. An apparatus for producing negative ions, comprising:
an emitter coated with an ionic liquid room-temperature molten salt;
an electrode positioned downstream relative to the emitter;
a power supply that applies a voltage to the emitter with respect to the electrode, sufficient to generate a stable high brightness beam of negative ions having minimal chromatic and spherical aberrations in the beam; and
an electrostatic lens and a deflector to focus and direct the beam to a target.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the emitter is mounted on a dielectric enclosure.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a cylinder mounted on the dielectric enclosure to store the ionic liquid wherein the cylinder is a diagnostic probe.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the cylinder is made of a conductive and non-corrosive material.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the cylinder is stainless steel.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the emitter generates a current of about 0.01-10 micro-Amps in the high brightness beam of negative ions having minimal aberrations.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the power supply applies a voltage to the emitter sufficient to generate the current of about 0.01-10 micro-Amps in the high brightness beam of negative ions.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising one or more emitters operated in parallel to generate higher currents in the high brightness beam.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the power supply applies a voltage of the opposite polarity to the emitter to generate a high brightness beam of positive ions with minimal chromatic and spherical aberrations.
10. A method for providing negative ions, comprising:
coating an outer surface of an emitter with an ionic liquid room-temperature molten salt;
applying a voltage to the emitter with respect to a downstream aperture, sufficient to generate a stable high brightness beam of negative ions having minimal chromatic and spherical aberrations in the beam;
focusing the beam of negative ions; and
directing the beam of negative ions to a target.
11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of applying a voltage of the opposite polarity to the emitter with respect to a downstream aperture, sufficient to generate a high brightness beam of positive ions with minimal chromatic and spherical aberrations.
12. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of applying the voltage sufficient to generate a beam having minimal aberrations further comprises the step of generating a current of about 0.01-10 micro-Amp in the beam.
13. The method of claim 10 wherein the target is at least one of a biological, or dielectric, or electrically floating, biased or grounded conductive substrate.
14. The method of claim 10 further comprising directing the beam to implant a substance in a micro-electronic device.
15. The method of claim 10 further comprising directing the beam of negative ions to generate a pattern on a target.
16. The method of claim 10 further comprising directing the beam of negative ions to scan the surface of a target and reconstruct a high resolution image of the surface via secondary emission.
17. The method of claim 10 further comprising storing the ionic liquid inside a metallic cylinder mounted on a dielectric enclosure.
18. The method of claim 17 further comprising using the metallic cylinder as a diagnostic probe.
19. A method of providing ions to at least one of a biological, or dielectric, or electrically floating conductive substrate, the method comprising:
coating an outer surface of an emitter with an ionic liquid room-temperature molten salt;
storing the ionic liquid inside a metallic cylinder mounted on a dielectric enclosure;
using the metallic cylinder as a diagnostic probe;
applying a negative voltage to the emitter with respect to an aperture to generate a beam of negative ions having minimal aberrations in the beam;
focusing the beam of negative ions; and
directing the beam of negative ions to at least one of a biological, or dielectric, or electrically floating, biased or grounded conductive substrate.
20. An apparatus for producing negative ions, comprising:
an array of emitters coated with an ionic liquid room-temperature molten salt wherein the individual emitters are operated in parallel;
an electrode positioned downstream relative to the emitter array;
a power supply that applies a voltage to the emitter array with respect to the electrode, sufficient to generate a stable high brightness beam of negative ions having minimal chromatic and spherical aberrations in the beam wherein each individual emitter provides a current of about 0.01-10 micro-Amps in the beam; and
an electrostatic lens and deflector to focus and direct the beam to a target.