Beam power scale-up in micro-electromechanical systems based multi-beam ion accelerators

We report on the development of multi-beam radio frequency (RF) linear ion accelerators that are formed from stacks of low cost wafers and describe the status of beam power scale-up using an array of 112 beams. The total argon ion current extracted from the 112-beamlet extraction column was 0.5 mA. The measured energy gain in each RF gap reached as high as 7.25 keV. We present a path toward using this technology to achieve ion currents >1 mA and ion energies >100 keV for applications in material processing. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

This report discusses the development of multi-beam radio frequency linear ion accelerators, which are formed from low-cost wafers and describe the status of beam power scale using an array of 112 beams. The study shows potential for achieving high ion currents and energies for material processing applications.