Claims
- 1. In an ion source which includes:
- means defining a chamber of conductive material for containing an ionizable gas within said chamber;
- an anode disposed within said chamber;
- an electron-emissive cathode disposed within said chamber;
- means for effecting electron emission at a sufficient velocity to ionize said gas;
- means for accelerating ions out of said chamber;
- and means for establishing a magnetic field within such chamber to increase the efficiency of ionization of said gas by said electrons;
- the improvement comprising:
- said anode being conductive and of non-magnetic material and defining an essentially-continuous and smooth surface including substantially all of the volume within which said ionization occurs except for the exit for accelerated ions out of said chamber;
- means for mounting said anode within and electrically insulating said anode from said chamber;
- and said establishing means being located exteriorly of said anode.
- 2. An ion source as defined in claim 1 in which said mounting means enables quick demountability of said anode from within said chamber without demounting said accelerating means.
- 3. An ion source as defined in claim 2 in which said chamber is defined by a shell and in which said shell includes an endwall and a sidewall removably secured to said endwall.
- 4. An ion source as defined in claim 3 in which said accelerating means is attached to said sidewall.
- 5. An ion source as defined in claim 1 in which the interior of said anode exhibits a smooth surface devoid of any portion physically shielded from ready accessibility.
- 6. An ion source as defined in claim 3 in which said establishing means is composed of a plurality of magnetic pole pieces distributed around and affixed to the interior of said shell.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of prior U.S. co-pending application Ser. No. 414,062, filed Sept. 2, 1982, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
4377773 |
Herschovitch et al. |
Mar 1983 |
|
4383177 |
Keller et al. |
May 1983 |
|
4446403 |
Cuomo et al. |
May 1984 |
|
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Crow et al., "High Performance . . . Source" IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, vol. PS-6, No. 4 (12/1978) pp. 535-538. |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
414062 |
Sep 1982 |
|