US3914655A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
High brightness ion source
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1973-06-28
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Granted: 1975-10-21
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Expires: 1993-06-28
Abstract
Abstract A high brightness ion beam is obtainable by using lasers to excite atoms or molecules from the ground state to an ionized state in increments, rather than in one step. The spectroscopic resonances of the atom or molecule are used so that relatively long wavelength, low power lasers can be used to obtain such ion beam.
Inventors
- 👤 Russell Warren Dreyfus
- 👤 Rodney Trevor Hodgson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 12:14
CPC Classifications
H; H05; H05H; H05H3/00; H05H3/02; H01; H01J; H01J27/00; H01J27/02; H01J27/24
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim
185 words
A generator of a high quality, high brightness ion source comprising a stream of particles, consisting of atoms, molecules or ions, a plurality of laser beams intersecting said stream of particles in a region in said ensemble of particles, one of said lasers being equal to a resonant frequency of the particles in said ensemble so as to excite them to an excited state, the frequency of a second laser being equal to a frequency that will excite said excited state of the particles to a second excited state of a higher energy than said first excited state, and the frequency of any other focused laser beam in said plurality of laser beams being chosen to excite each previously excited state to a higher energy state until the ionization limit of the ensemble of particles is reached, all such excitations not interfering with the direction of said stream of particles when such ionization limit is reached, and means for separating such created high quality, high brightness ions from any other particles in said stream for application to any utilization device requiring such bright ion source.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
185 words
A generator of a high quality, high brightness ion source comprising a stream of particles, consisting of atoms, molecules or ions, a plurality of laser beams intersecting said stream of particles in a region in said ensemble of particles, one of said lasers being equal to a resonant frequency of the particles in said ensemble so as to excite them to an excited state, the frequency of a second laser being equal to a frequency that will excite said excited state of the particles to a second excited state of a higher energy than said first excited state, and the frequency of any other focused laser beam in said plurality of laser beams being chosen to excite each previously excited state to a higher energy state until the ionization limit of the ensemble of particles is reached, all such excitations not interfering with the direction of said stream of particles when such ionization limit is reached, and means for separating such created high quality, high brightness ions from any other particles in said stream for application to any utilization device requiring such bright ion source.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
134 words
An ion generator comprising a generator of a stream of atoms of vaporized sodium, a plurality of laser beams intersecting said stream of atoms, the frequency of one of said laser beams being equal to a resonant frequency of the atoms so as to excite them to an excited state, the frequency of a second laser beam being equal to a frequency that excites said excited state of atoms to a second excited state having a higher energy than said first excited state, the frequency of any other laser beam in said plurality of laser beams being chosen to excite each said previously excited state to a higher energy state until the ionization limit of the stream of sodium atoms is reached, and means for extracting said beam of sodium ions from said stream.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
134 words
An ion generator comprising a generator of a stream of atoms of vaporized sodium, a plurality of laser beams intersecting said stream of atoms, the frequency of one of said laser beams being equal to a resonant frequency of the atoms so as to excite them to an excited state, the frequency of a second laser beam being equal to a frequency that excites said excited state of atoms to a second excited state having a higher energy than said first excited state, the frequency of any other laser beam in said plurality of laser beams being chosen to excite each said previously excited state to a higher energy state until the ionization limit of the stream of sodium atoms is reached, and means for extracting said beam of sodium ions from said stream.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
The ion generator of claim 2 wherein two laser beams that intersect said stream of sodium atoms have wavelengths of 5, 895A and 5,682A, respectively.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The ion generator of claim 3 including lenses between said laser beams and said stream of sodium atoms so as to focus the output beams of said lasers at a point in said stream.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-10-20 | 1979-04-21 | 1979-10-21 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-10-20 | 1983-04-21 | 1983-10-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-10-20 | 1987-04-21 | 1987-10-21 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |