Electric lamp and discharge devices: systems – Discharge device load with fluent material supply to the... – Electron or ion source
Patent
1997-02-10
1998-05-19
Pascal, Robert
Electric lamp and discharge devices: systems
Discharge device load with fluent material supply to the...
Electron or ion source
31511181, 31511131, 315 39, 313293, 3133601, 25049221, H01J 724
Patent
active
057540080
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for creating a beam of adjustable energy ions particularly for sequential vacuum treatment of surfaces with large dimensions.
2. Description of Related Art
For treatment of automobile sheet metal in particular, to improve its corrosion resistance, it is known to bombard it with ions obtained by ionization of an appropriate gas such as nitrogen. Sequential treatment of a piece of sheet metal consists of moving the latter in the field of a fixed ion beam so that the beam of ions sweeps the entire surface of the metal. Depending on the density of the ion beam, the metal is moved at an appropriate rate to achieve the desired bombardment.
In order to implement this technique, it is preferable to have a very wide beam of ions. In this case, however, the problem arises of generating a beam of ions that is sufficiently dense and uniform over its entire width.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The goal of the present invention is to furnish a device able to provide a dense, wide beam of ions with good homogeneity that is particularly suited for sequential treatment of surfaces with large dimensions. The present invention relates to a device for creating a beam of ions particularly for sequential treatment of surfaces with large dimensions, having an ionization chamber into which a gas can be introduced to be subjected to the action of an alternating high-frequency electrical field, extraction optics able to extract ions from the ionization chamber and emit a beam of ions from the device, and excitation means able to establish the alternating high-frequency electrical field inside the ionization chamber, being connected by a waveguide to a microwave generator, characterized in that said excitation means include a conducting enclosure abutting a wall of the ionization chamber, the interior of this enclosure being divided into a first part opposite the ionization chamber in which the waveguide terminates and a second part adjacent to the ionization chamber that contains essentially identical cylindrical conducting cavities open at both their ends, the lengthwise axes of said cavities being parallel to each other and perpendicular to said wall of the ionization chamber, each cavity having an adjusting element to adjust the quantity of microwave energy passing through said cavity.
According to the invention, "cylindrical cavity" is understood to be a cavity with a constant cross section. This cross section can be of any shape, preferably rectangular. It will be understood that the excitation means according to the invention constitute a power divider which has the function of distributing the energy furnished by the microwave generator among the various cavities, each of which constitutes an independent waveguide that radiates into said ionization chamber at its aperture adjacent to the ionization chamber. Since the cavities are substantially identical, each emits the same quantity of energy into the ionization chamber. In addition, since the cavities are regularly distributed in the enclosure, the electrical field generated in the ionization chamber exhibits good homogeneity.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cavities are aligned in two rows parallel to the large dimension of the surface of the ionization chamber located opposite the extraction optics, and are disposed in a staggered arrangement in these two rows. In this embodiment, displacement of the parts to be treated, in a direction perpendicular to the two rows of cavities, improves the homogeneity of the ionic treatment of each part still further, since the less-dense areas of the first row are compensated by the denser areas of the second row, and vice versa.
According to the invention, the ionization chamber is separated from the conducting enclosure by a dielectric window impermeable to the gases to be ionized and permeable to electromagnetic waves. If it is subjected to the action of any metal particles emitted by the surface of the part during treatment
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patent: 4987346 (1991-01-01), Katzschner et al.
patent: 5173640 (1992-12-01), Geisler et al.
patent: 5188862 (1993-02-01), Itatani et al.
patent: 5218210 (1993-06-01), Mcintyre, Jr. et al.
Roy Veronique
Schwebel Christian
Wartski Louis
Pascal Robert
Philogene Haissa
Plasmion
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