IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,243,708
Granted Patent B2
US 12,243,708 · App. 18/505,522 · Granted Mar 4, 2025

Ion generator and ion implanter

Inventor: Syuta Ochi (Ehime, JP)
Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES ION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
H01J37/08H01J37/063H01J37/3171H01J37/32385H01J37/32788H01J2237/082
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,243,708
App. No.
18/505,522
Granted
Mar 4, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

An ion generator includes an arc chamber defining a plasma generation space, and a cathode which emits thermoelectrons toward the plasma generation space. The arc chamber includes a box-shaped main body having an opening, and a slit member mounted to cover the opening and provided with a front slit. An inner surface of the main body is exposed to the plasma generation space made of a refractory metal material. The slit member includes an inner member made of graphite and an outer member made of another refractory metal material. The outer member includes an outer surface exposed to an outside of the arc chamber. The inner member includes an inner surface exposed to the plasma generation space, and an opening portion which forms the front slit extending from the inner surface of the inner member to the outer surface of the outer member.

Claims (37)

1. An ion implanter comprising:

a beam generation unit that comprises an ion generator to generate ions, and that generates an ion beam of the ions extracted from the ion generator; and

a substrate processing unit in which the ion beam is implanted into a substrate, wherein

the ion generator includes an arc chamber which defines a plasma generation space,

the arc chamber includes a box-shaped main body which includes an opening in at least a part of a front side of the main body, and a slit member which is mounted to cover the opening of the front side of the main body and provided with a front slit for extracting ions,

an inner surface of the main body which is exposed to the plasma generation space is made of a first refractory metal material, and

an inner surface of the slit member which is exposed to the plasma generation space is made of graphite.

2. The ion implanter according to claim 1 , wherein the ion generator further incudes a cathode which emits thermoelectrons toward the plasma generation space.

3. The ion implanter according to claim 2 , wherein the cathode is fixed in a state where it is electrically insulated from the arc chamber.

4. The ion implanter according to claim 3 , wherein the cathode includes a portion made of a second refractory metal material.

5. The ion implanter according to claim 4 ,

wherein the cathode has a filament that generate primary thermoelectrons and a cathode head that generates secondary thermoelectrons by heating with the primary thermoelectrons, and

wherein the cathode head is made of the second refractory metal material.

6. The ion implanter according to claim 5 , wherein a content rate of a refractory metal element by weight in the second refractory metal material is higher than a content rate of a refractory metal element by weight in the first refractory metal material.

7. An ion implanter comprising:

a beam generation unit that comprises an ion generator to generate multiply charged ions, and that generates an ion beam of the multiply charged ions extracted from the ion generator;

a beam acceleration unit that accelerates the ion beam to obtain a high energy ion beam of 1 MeV or more; and

a substrate processing unit in which the high-energy ion beam is implanted into a substrate, wherein

the ion generator includes an arc chamber which defines a plasma generation space, and a cathode which emits thermoelectrons toward the plasma generation space,

the arc chamber includes a box-shaped main body which includes an opening in at least a part of a front side of the main body, and a slit member which is mounted to cover the opening of the front side of the main body and provided with a front slit for extracting ions,

an inner surface of the main body which is exposed to the plasma generation space is made of a first refractory metal material,

an inner surface of the slit member which is exposed to the plasma generation space is made of graphite,

the cathode including a portion made of a second refractory metal material, and

a content rate of a refractory metal element by weight in the second refractory metal material is higher than a content rate of a refractory metal element by weight in the first refractory metal material.

8. The ion implanter according to claim 7 , wherein the beam acceleration unit comprises a linear accelerator.

9. The ion implanter according to claim 7 , wherein the beam acceleration unit comprises a plurality of linear accelerators.

10. The ion implanter according to claim 7 , wherein the beam acceleration unit accelerates the ion beam to obtain a high energy ion beam of 4 MeV or more.

11. The ion implanter according to claim 7 , wherein the ion generator generates the multiply charged ions of at least one of boron, phosphorus, and arsenic.

12. An ion implanter comprising an ion generator,

wherein the ion generator comprises arc chamber which defines a plasma generation space and a cathode which emits thermoelectrons toward the plasma generation space,

wherein the arc chamber has a front slit for extracting ions,

wherein at least part of an inner surface of the arc chamber which is exposed to the plasma generation space is made of a first refractory metal material,

wherein the cathode has a filament that generate primary thermoelectrons and a cathode head that generates secondary thermoelectrons by heating with the primary thermoelectrons,

wherein the cathode head is made of a second refractory metal material, and

wherein a content rate of a refractory metal element by weight in the first refractory metal material is lower than a content rate of a refractory metal element by weight in the second refractory metal material.

13. The ion implanter according to claim 12 , wherein the cathode is fixed in a state where it is electrically insulated from the arc chamber.

14. The ion implanter according to claim 12 , wherein each of the first refractory metal material and the second refractory metal material includes at least one of tungsten, molybdenum, and tantalum.

Priority Claims (1)
JP 2019-049842 · Mar 18, 2019 · national
Continuity (3)
Continuation 17836109 · Jun 9, 2022
Continuation 16818675 · Mar 13, 2020
Related Publication 20240079199A1 · Mar 7, 2024
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