The Inner Workings of the Kaufman Ion Source
In simple terms, a Kaufman ion source operates as follows:
- The filament cathode thermionically emits electrons.
- The electrons are attracted to the positively biased anode. However, their path is not straight but rather the electrons drift in a cycloidial path due to a confining magnetic field.
- As the electrons travel, they impact a neutral atom (molecule) from a working gas fed into the discharge chamber, resulting in ionization.
- The ionization cascade establishes a high-density plasma in the discharge chamber.
- The plasma is elevated to a positive potential with respect to ground by the biased anode.
- At the ion optics, the plasma is contained within the discharge region chamber by the multi-aperture screen grid. However, when a negative bias is applied to the accelerator grid, an electric field is established and it extracts ions from the plasma discharge.
- The extracted ions flow through the grid apertures on their way to form an ion beam.
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