Performance and lifetime of the extended life ion source

Modern well engineering processes have extended the energy range of ion implant to several MeV. This extended energy range can only be accommodated by commercial high energy implanters which utilize multiply-charged ion species. We present performance and lifetime data from a new ion source which features an indirectly-heated cathode immersed in the plasma of a conventional reflex-geometry arc discharge chamber. The Extended Life Source (ELS) demonstrates improved multiply-charged ion production efficiency, enabling high energy ion implantation at increased beam currents while at the same time extending production-worthy lifetime for both high energy and high-current implanters. Field data shows that the ELS increases PM intervals for most processes while increasing throughput, providing a significant reduction in tool cost of ownership.