Design and construction of a multi-hole Ar RF ion source

High-density plasmas generated by a planar inductive coupling have many advantageous features to be developed as ion sources for an industrial application. First of all, the rf antenna is located outside of the plasma chamber. This can reduce possible contamination from the immersed antenna and make its lifetime longer. Also, any kinds of gases including reactive gases such as oxygen can be used. Second, high density plasmas can be generated at very low gas pressures, which makes large throughputs possible by providing sufficient ions. Finally, radial profiles of plasma densities can be adjusted easily by changing the arrangement of the antenna by changing the number of antenna turns and its structure and magnetic cusp fields by changing its geometry. RF ion source has developed for an Ar ion beam using planar inductive coupled plasma