Atomic hydrogen sources are usually strong photon emitters. To produce an a
tomic hydrogen beam and suppress the undesired photon flux, a small but eff
ective light blocking device has been developed which fits into the quartz
tube of a hydrogen plasma source. The device is made of stainless steel and
uses angled passages and offset throughholes to absorb plasma generated ph
otons while permitting hydrogen atoms and molecules to pass. The photon flu
x was reduced by a factor of at least 10(4), whereas an attenuation of the
H atom flux was not observed. By measuring the average velocity of the H at
oms passing through the light blocker it has been shown that this device in
the microwave plasma tube produces a room temperature thermalized atomic h
ydrogen beam. (C) 1999 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-2101(99)02302-7].