Our equipment is used in the ion beam coating industry. It is typically found in precision optical coating systems.

Ion beam sources can be used for sputtering material or etch. The ion beam source works when a discharge, or plasma, is created inside the source. Ions inside the source are contained using a discharge chamber. The plasma is created using an RF antenna attached to a matching network and generator. The ion beam grids or grid assembly is connected to extract the ion beam and it functions to direct the beam towards the target or substrate.

The ion beam source is operated using our IBEAM power supply. This power supply has a beam module to control the ion energy (voltage) and dose (beam current). The accelerator module controls the ion trajectories. The RF module establishes the plasma and the RFN module connects to the neutralizer.

Posts

A 16cm ion beam source sputtering a target.

December 2023 Newsletter

This month we are doing an in-depth look at gas flow and chamber pressure issues.  Gas flow is required for the operation of an ion beam source.  There is lots of useful information condensed for a quick read.