Abstract:
Methods and systems for thermal ionization of a sample and formation of an ion beam are described. The systems incorporate a thermal ionization filament that is formed of a graphene-based material such as graphite, graphene, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide or combinations thereof. The filament material can be doped or chemically modified to control and tune the work function of the filament and improve ionization efficiency of a system incorporating the filament. The systems can be utilized in forming an ion beam for target bombardment or analysis via, e.g., mass spectrometry.
Abstract:
There is provided an emitter structure, a gas ion source including the emitter structure, and a focused ion beam system including the gas ion source. The emitter structure includes a pair of conductive pins which are fixed to a base member, a filament which is connected between the pair of conductive pins, and an emitter which is connected to the filament and has a sharp tip. A supporting member is fixed to the base material, and the emitter is connected to the supporting member.
Abstract:
The electron emission portion of a cathode for an electron gun has layers of substrate material formed from a ceramic powder such as Aluminum nitride. The substrate layers have conductive traces formed on them, the conductive traces made from sintered tungsten or alternatively a refractory foil. When current is passed through the conductive traces, heat is coupled to a cathode which is thermally coupled to the heater assembly. In another embodiment of the invention, one of the layers of the heater includes a thermionic emission material and optionally a work function lowering material such as BaO, which allows the outer layer of the multi-layer heater to directly emit electrons. In another embodiment of the invention, a control grid is formed on a layer above the thermionic cathode layer, which provides for a complete electron gun assembly having a heater, cathode with a reduced work function material, and control grid to be fabricated as a single unit at the same time.