Ion beam profile control apparatus and method

Claim 2

An ion source comprising: a plasma chamber having an axis and having a housing, an electron source adjacent one end of said axis and ion extraction optics adjacent the other end of said axis, anode means around said axis and around said plasma chamber for applying anode potential to said plasma chamber; means for supplying ionizable material to said plasma chamber; a cathode for supplying electrons to said plasma chamber for movement toward said anode means for ionizing the ionizable material as the electrons pass from said cathode to said anode means; a spoiler positioned between said cathode and said extraction optics, means for biasing said spoiler said spoiler having a plurality of segments and each of said segments of said spoiler being individually connected to said biasing means to individually bias said spoiler segments more positive than said housing so that the reduction of peaking around said axis can be individually controlled by each of said segments to control the uniformity of ion beam flux through said extraction optics.

Claim 3

An ion source comprising: a plasma chamber having an axis and having a housing, an electron source adjacent one end of said axis and ion extraction optics adjacent the other end of said axis, anode means around said axis and around said plasma chamber for applying anode potential to said plasma chamber; means for supplying ionizable material to said plasma chamber; a cathode for supplying electrons to said plasma chamber for movement towards said anode means for ionizing the ionizable material as the electrons pass from said cathode to said anode means; a spoiler positioned between said cathode and said extraction optics, said spoiler having a plurality of segments at least some of said segments being laterally positioned with respect to said axis, each of said segments of said spoiler being individually connected to said biasing means to individually bias said spoiler segments more positive than said housing to control peaking of ionization along said center line to control the distribution of ion beam flux through said extraction optics.

Claim 4

An ion source comprising: a plasma chamber having an axis and having a housing, an electron source adjacent one end of said axis and ion extraction optics adjacent the other end of said axis, anode means around said axis and around said plasma chamber for applying anode potential to said plasma chamber; means for supplying ionizable material to said plasma chamber; a cathode for supplying electrons to said plasma chamber for movement towards said anode means for ionizing the ionizable material as the electrons pass from said cathode to said anode means; a spoiler positioned between said cathode and said extraction optics, said spoiler having a plurality of segments at least some of said segments being laterally positioned with respect to said axis, each of said segments of said spoiler being individually connected to said biasing means to individually bias said spoiler segments more positive than said housing to control peaking of ionization along said center line to control the distribution of ion beam flux through said extraction optics.

Claim 5

The the ion source of claim 2 wherein said ion source serves as a part of an ion thruster.

Claim 6

An ion source comprising: a plasma chamber having an axis and having a housing, an electron source adjacent one end of said axis and ion extraction optics adjacent the other end of said axis, anode means around said axis and around said plasma chamber for applying anode potential to said plasma chamber; means for supplying ionizable material to said plasma chamber; a cathode for supplying electrons to said plasma chamber for movement towards said anode means for ionizing the ionizable material as the electrons pass from said cathode to said anode means; a spoiler position between said cathode and said extraction optics, said spoiler having a plurality of segments, a power supply individually connected to each of said segments to individually control the potential thereof to control flux distribution of ion beam flux through said extraction optics, and a control system connected to said power supply for individual control of each of said segments.

Claim 7

An ion source comprising: a plasma chamber having an axis and having a housing, an electron source adjacent one end of said axis and ion extraction optics adjacent the other end of said axis, anode means around said axis and around said plasma chamber for applying anode potential to said plasma chamber; means for supplying ionizable material to said plasma chamber; a cathode for supplying electrons to said plasma chamber for movement towards said anode means for ionizing the ionizable material as the electrons pass from said cathode to said anode means; a spoiler position between said cathode and said extraction optics, said spoiler having a plurality of segments, a power supply individually connected to each of said segments to individually control the potential thereof to control flux distribution of ion beam flux through said extraction optics, and a control system connected to said power supply for individual control of each of said segments.

Claim 8

An ion source comprising a plasma chamber housing having an axis, said plasma chamber having ion optics at the downstream end of said axis and having a cathode at the upstream end of said axis; anode means within said ion chamber housing for accepting electrons from said cathode, magnet means around said plasma chamber housing for extending the path of electrons from said cathode to said anode means, means for supplying ionizable fluid to said plasma chamber so that the ionizable fluid is ionized by electron bombardment, with the ions being extracted by said ion optics, the improvement comprising; a spoiler positioned on said axis, said spoiler being segmented into spoiler portions, with some of said spoiler portions being positioned laterally with respect to said axis, and means for biasing said spoiler individually connected to each of said spoiler segments for individually biasing said spoiler segments so that differential laterally biasing of said spoiler segments can be achieved for controlling lateral ion density within said plasma chanber and thus controlling lateral density of ions from said ion axis.

Claim 9

An ion source comprising a plasma chamber housing having an axis, said plasma chamber having ion optics at the downstream end of said axis and having a cathode at the upstream end of said axis; anode means within said ion chamber housing for accepting electrons from said cathode, magnet means around said plasma chamber housing for extending the path of electrons from said cathode to said anode means, means for supplying ionizable fluid to said plasma chamber so that the ionizable fluid is ionized by electron bombardment, with the ions being extracted by said ion optics, the improvement comprising; a spoiler positioned on said axis, said spoiler being segmented into spoiler portions, with some of said spoiler portions being positioned laterally with respect to said axis, and means for biasing said spoiler individually connected to each of said spoiler segments for individually biasing said spoiler segments so that differential laterally biasing of said spoiler segments can be achieved for controlling lateral ion density within said plasma chanber and thus controlling lateral density of ions from said ion axis.

Claim 10

The ion source of claim 5 wherein said ion source is part of an ion thruster which has a dished beam extraction system so that thrust vectoring is achieved.

Claim 11

An ion source comprising; walls defining a plasma chamber, said plasma chamber having an axis, ion optics toward one end of said axis and an electron source toward the other end of said axis; anode means around said chamber and magnet means for producing a magnetic field within said chamber and means for supplying ionizable fluid to said chamber so that said ionizable material is ionized by electron bombardment as electrons pass from said cathode to said anode with the electron path being lengthened by the magnetic field produced by said magnet means, the improvement comprising: said anode means being formed of a plurality of segments, some of said segments being laterally positioned with respect to said axis and anode potential means connected to each of said segments for individually controlling anode potential for controlling electron path length within said plasma chamber and thus controlling ion density laterally with respect to said axis.

Claim 12

An ion source comprising; walls defining a plasma chamber, said plasma chamber having an axis, ion optics toward one end of said axis and an electron source toward the other end of said axis; anode means around said chamber and magnet means for producing a magnetic field within said chamber and means for supplying ionizable fluid to said chamber so that said ionizable material is ionized by electron bombardment as electrons pass from said cathode to said anode with the electron path being lengthened by the magnetic field produced by said magnet means, the improvement comprising: said anode means being formed of a plurality of segments, some of said segments being laterally positioned with respect to said axis and anode potential means connected to each of said segments for individually controlling anode potential for controlling electron path length within said plasma chamber and thus controlling ion density laterally with respect to said axis.

Claim 13

An ion source comprising: walls defining a plasma chamber, said plasma chamber having an axis, ion optics toward one end of said axis and an electron source toward the other end of said axis; anode means around said chamber and magnet means for producing a magnetic field within said chamber and means for supplying ionizable fluid to said chamber so that said ionizable fluid is ionized by electron bombardment as electrons pass from said cathode to said anode with the electron path being lengthened by the magnetic field produced by said magnet means, the improvement comprising: said anode means being formed of a plurality of individual anode segments positioned around said plasma chamber, some of said segments being laterally positioned with respect to said axis and anode potential means connected to each of said segments for individually controlling anode potential for controlling electron path length within the said plasma chamber and thus controlling ion density laterally with respect to said axis.

Claim 14

An ion source comprising: walls defining a plasma chamber, said plasma chamber having an axis, ion optics toward one end of said axis and an electron source toward the other end of said axis; anode means around said chamber and magnet means for producing a magnetic field within said chamber and means for supplying ionizable fluid to said chamber so that said ionizable fluid is ionized by electron bombardment as electrons pass from said cathode to said anode with the electron path being lengthened by the magnetic field produced by said magnet means, the improvement comprising: said anode means being formed of a plurality of individual anode segments positioned around said plasma chamber, some of said segments being laterally positioned with respect to said axis and anode potential means connected to each of said segments for individually controlling anode potential for controlling electron path length within the said plasma chamber and thus controlling ion density laterally with respect to said axis.

Claim 15

The ion source of claim 8 wherein said anode segments comprise a plurality of segments arranged along said axis as well as around said axis.

Claim 16

The ion source of claim 8 wherein said magnet means comprises a plurality of bar magnets arranged circumferentially around said plasma chamber.

Claim 17

The ion source of claim 10 wherein said bar magnets are of alternate polarity on the sides of said bars facing said plasma chamber so that magnetic field cusps are produced within said plasma chamber.

Claim 18

An ion source comprising: walls defining a plasma chamber, said plasma chamber having an axis, ion optics toward one end of said axis and an electron source toward the other end of said axis; anode means around said chamber and magnet means for producing a magnetic field within said chamber and means for supplying ionizable fluid to said chamber so that said ionizable material is ionized by electron bombardment as the electrons pass from said cathode to said anode with the electron path being lengthened by the magnetic field produced by said magnet means, the improvement comprising: said anode means being formed of a plurality of individual anode segments positioned around said plasma chamber, anode potential means connected to each of said segments for individually controlling anode potential for controlling electron path length within said plasma chamber and thus controlling ion density laterally with respect to said axis, said ion source forming a part of an ion thruster so that potential control of said anode controls beam vectoring.

Claim 19

An ion source comprising: walls defining a plasma chamber, said plasma chamber having an axis, ion optics toward one end of said axis and an electron source toward the other end of said axis; anode means around said chamber and magnet means for producing a magnetic field within said chamber and means for supplying ionizable fluid to said chamber so that said ionizable material is ionized by electron bombardment as the electrons pass from said cathode to said anode with the electron path being lengthened by the magnetic field produced by said magnet means, the improvement comprising: said anode means being formed of a plurality of individual anode segments positioned around said plasma chamber, anode potential means connected to each of said segments for individually controlling anode potential for controlling electron path length within said plasma chamber and thus controlling ion density laterally with respect to said axis, said ion source forming a part of an ion thruster so that potential control of said anode controls beam vectoring.

Claim 20

An ion source comprising: walls defining a plasma chamber, said plasma chamber having an axis, ion optics toward one end of said axis and an electron source toward the other end of said axis; anode means around said chamber and magnet means for producing a magnetic field within said chamber and means for supplying ionizable fluid to said chamber so that said ionizable material is ionized by electron bombardment as electrons pass from said cathode to said anode with the electron path lengthened by the magnetic field produced by said magnet means, the improvement comprising: said anode means being formed of a plurality segments, some of said segments being laterally positioned with respect to said axis, and control means connected to said plurality of individual anode sements for individually controlling the potential thereof for controlling electron path length within said plasma chamber and thus controlling ion density laterally with respect to said axis.

Claim 21

An ion source comprising: walls defining a plasma chamber, said plasma chamber having an axis, ion optics toward one end of said axis and an electron source toward the other end of said axis; anode means around said chamber and magnet means for producing a magnetic field within said chamber and means for supplying ionizable fluid to said chamber so that said ionizable material is ionized by electron bombardment as electrons pass from said cathode to said anode with the electron path lengthened by the magnetic field produced by said magnet means, the improvement comprising: said anode means being formed of a plurality segments, some of said segments being laterally positioned with respect to said axis, and control means connected to said plurality of individual anode sements for individually controlling the potential thereof for controlling electron path length within said plasma chamber and thus controlling ion density laterally with respect to said axis.

Claim 24

The method of claim 14 wherein there is a control system and further including the step of: providing control signals from the control system to adjust the potential of the spoiler.

Claim 25

The method of claim 14 further including the step of: operating the ion source with the potential of the spoiler such as to reduce the central peaking of the ion concentration with respect to average concentration and thus reduce the center ion current with respect to average ion current; and operating the ion source with the central ion current substantially at maximum current density so that the ion source is operated at higher total current.