A PLASMA WINDOW FOR VACUUM-ATMOSPHERE INTERFACE AND FOCUSING LENS OF SOURCES FOR NONVACUUM ION MATERIAL MODIFICATION (INVITED)

Material modifications by ion implantation, dry etching, and microfabr ication are widely used technologies, all of which are performed in va cuum, since ion beams at energies used in these applications are compl etely attenuated by foils or by long differentially pumped sections, w hich are currently used to interface between vacuum and atmosphere. A novel plasma window, which utilizes a short are for vacuum-atmosphere interface, has been developed. This window provides for sufficient vac uum atmosphere separation, as well as for ion beam propagation through it, thus facilitating nonvacuum ion material modification. (C) 1998 A merican Institute of Physics.