Dense Plasmas in Magnetic Traps: Generation of Focused Ion Beams With Controlled Ion-to-Neutral Flux Ratios

Abstract — Customized magnetic traps were developed to pro-duce a domain of dense plasmas with a narrow ion beam directed to a particular area of the processed substrate. A planar magnetron coupled with an arc discharge source created the magnetic traps to confine the plasma electrons and generate the ion beam with the controlled ratio of ion-to-neutral fluxes. Images of the plasma jet patterns and numerical vizualizations help explaining the observed phenomena. Index Terms — Arc discharge, ion beam, magnetic traps. I