Very broad beam metal ion source for large area ion implantation application

Summary form only given. A very broad beam version of a vacuum arc ion source has been used to carry out high-energy metal ion implantation of a particularly large substrate. A multiple-cathode vacuum arc plasma source was coupled to a 50-cm-diameter beam extractor (multiple aperture, accel-decel configuration) operated at a net extraction voltage of up to 50 kV. The metal ion species chosen were Ni and Ta. The ion source was operated in a repetitively pulsed mode with pulse length 250 /spl mu/s and repetition rate several pulses per second. The extracted beam had a Gaussian profile with FWHM of about 35 cm, giving a nominal beam area of about 100 cm/sup 2/. The current of Ni or Ta metal ions in the beam was up to several amperes. The targets for the ion implantation were a number of 24-inch long, highly polished Cu rails from an electromagnetic rail gun. The rails were located about 80 cm away from the ion source extractor grids, and were moved across a diameter of the vessel in such a way as to maximize the uniformity of the implant along the rail.