Recent development of plasma optical systems (invited)

A. A. Goncharov
Citation: Review of Scientific Instruments 87, 02B901 (2016); doi: 10.1063/1.4931718
View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4931718
View Table of Contents: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/rsi/87/2?ver=pdfcov
Published by the AIP Publishing
Articles you may be interested in
Computational hydrodynamics and optical performance of inductively-coupled plasma adaptive lenses
Phys. Plasmas 22, 062110 (2015); 10.1063/1.4922477
Development of very small-diameter, inductively coupled magnetized plasma device
Rev. Sci. Instrum. 84, 103502 (2013); 10.1063/1.4823524
Recent development in homemade x-ray polycapillary optic and its application to topics of x-ray optics
AIP Conf. Proc. 1437, 121 (2012); 10.1063/1.3703355
A Plasma Lens for High Intensity Laser Focusing
AIP Conf. Proc. 877, 721 (2006); 10.1063/1.2409207
Development of a high-speed, reciprocating electrostatic probe system for Hall thruster interrogation
Rev. Sci. Instrum. 71, 4131 (2000); 10.1063/1.1318921

Reuse of AIP Publishing content is subject to the terms at: https://publishing.aip.org/authors/rights-and-permissions. Download to IP: 103.27.9.50 On: Mon, 21 Mar
2016 04:12:27

REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 87, 02B901 (2016)

Recent development of plasma optical systems (invited)

A. A. Goncharova)
Institute of Physics, National Academy of Science, Kiev 03028, Ukraine

(Presented 28 August 2015; received 20 August 2015; accepted 7 September 2015; published
online 29 September 2015)
The article devotes a brief description of the recent development and current status of an ongoing
research of plasma optical systems based on the fundamental plasma optical idea magnetic electron
isolation, equipotentialization magnetic field lines, and the axi-symmetric cylindrical electrostatic
plasma lens (PL) configuration. The experimental, theoretical, and simulation investigations have
been carried out over recent years collaboratively between IP NASU (Kiev), LBNL (Berkeley, USA),
and HCEI RAS (Tomsk). The crossed electric and magnetic fields inherent the PL configuration that
provides the attractive method for establishing a stable plasma discharge at low pressure. Using PL
configuration, several high reliability plasma devices were developed. These devices are attractive for
many high-tech applications. C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4931718]

E = 1/c(vd B).

I. INTRODUCTION

The basic concept of the electrostatic plasma lens

(PL) is based on the use of magnetically insulated cold
electrons (i.e., transverse mobility << parallel mobility) to
provide space-charge neutralization of the focused ion beam
and to maintain the magnetic field lines as equipotentials
(equipotentialization). This means that the value of the
magnetic field is that the following inequalities are correct He
<< R << Hi, where He and Hi are the electron and
ion Larmor-radiuses, R-typical system size. These early
contributions also clarified the advantages of plasma lenses
as compared with the more traditional electrostatic lens (of
which the Einzel lens is one specific kind) and magnetic lenses.
This is a generalization of Gabors ideas for employing a
magnetized electron cloud in a Penning trap as an effective
space charge lens for focusing low current positive ion
beams. The condition of equipotential magnetic field lines of
length l >> R, passing through the axial region of the system
and crossing the outermost electrodes (which are grounded)
follows from a model in which the lens volume is uniformly
filled with cold background electrons of density ne and energetic beam ions of density nb = Ib/(eQvbR2). This condition
can be given as
ne

Ib
L
=
,
eQvb R2
eR2

where L is the maximum electric potential on the ring

electrodes. The plus sign corresponds to beam focusing and
the minus sign to beam defocusingthe dispersive operational
regime of the lens.
Note that the equipotentialization condition follows from
the steady-state hydrodynamic equation of motion of cold
electrons, which in this case is
Note: Invited paper, published as part of the Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Ion Sources, New York, New York, USA, August
2015.
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail:
gonchar@iop.kiev.ua

The macroscopic over thermal electrostatic field E can

exist only in the presence of closed electron drift and an
insulating magnetic field.
The electrostatic plasma lens (Fig. 1) is an axially
symmetric plasma-optics device with a set of cylindrical ring
electrodes located within the magnetic field region, with field
lines connecting ring electrode pairs symmetrically about the
lens midplane (see for detail Ref. 1).
The crossed electric and magnetic fields inherent plasma
lens configuration provides the attractive method for establishing a stable plasma discharge at low pressure. Using
plasma lens configuration in this way, several cost-effective,
low maintenance, high reliability plasma devices using
permanent magnets were developed. In part, it was proposed
and created cylindrical plasmaoptical magnetron sputtering
device with virtual anodes and target utilization factor up to
100% and cylindrical plasma production device for the ion
treatment of substrates with complicated cylindrical shape.
These devices can be applied both for fine ion cleaning and
activation of substrates before deposition and for sputtering.
These plasma tools can be operated as stand-alone plasma
devices or as part of a single technological cycle together
with a sputtering system.2 One particularly interesting result
of this background work was the observation of the essential
positive potential at the floating substrate treated by cylindrical
ion cleaning device. This suggested us to the possibility of
an electrostatic plasma lens for focusing and manipulating
high-current beams of negatively charged particles, electrons, and negative ions, which is based on the use of the
cloud of positive space charge in conditions of magnetic
insulation electrons. It was proposed to use magnetic electron
insulation for creation of a stable positive space charge
cloud.35
Here, it describes the recent results of investigations, the
focusing wide aperture intense electron beam by positive space
charge plasma lenses based on the ideas of magnetic electron
insulation.

0034-6748/2016/87(2)/02B901/5/$30.00
87, 02B901-1
2015 AIP Publishing LLC
Reuse of AIP Publishing content is subject to the terms at: https://publishing.aip.org/authors/rights-and-permissions. Download to IP: 103.27.9.50 On: Mon, 21 Mar
2016 04:12:27

02B901-2

A. A. Goncharov

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87, 02B901 (2016)

FIG. 2. Simplified schematic of the lens. 1Magnetic field lines, 2anode,

3magnetic system, and 4cathode.

FIG. 1. Schematic of PL. 1Magnetic system, 2the set of cylindrical ring

electrodes, solid linesmagnetic field lines, and dashed linesequipotential
lines.

II. PLASMA LENS WITH POSTIVE SPACE CHARGE

The plasma lens with positive ion space charge cloud

(Fig. 2) is indeed a cylindrical plasma accelerator with an
anode layer. The lens has a system of permanent magnets
that produces an axi-symmetric magnetic field between the
poles of a magnetic circuit serving as cathode. The magnetic
field configuration is typical of the single magnetic lens
configuration and the lens will focus the propagated electron
beam. When a positive potential is applied to the anode, a
discharge in the axial magnetic and radial electric crossed
fields is ignited between the anode and the cathode. In this
kind of systems, the electrons are separated from ions by
relatively strong magnetic field in the discharge channel. The
accelerated ions are weakly affected by the magnetic field
owing to their masses. We believe that the beam of positively
charged ions formed by the device converges onto the system
center. Electrons are magnetized in the anode layer, thus their
influence on ion dynamics can be neglected. The fast ions
reach the system axis and accumulate in the region around
it. As a result, the cloud of positive space charge will be
created at the axis. Maximum potential will be in the center on
cylindrical axis. Ions are stored in the cylinder volume until
their own space charge creates a critical electric field. This
field forces ions to leave the volume and the system comes to
dynamic equilibrium after some relaxation time.
The system can be described by a set of equations,

cell (PIC) method. The simulation results were in qualitative

agreement with experimental results.
Thus, the research described in Refs. 35 has shown a
principal possibility creation of a positive space charge cloud
for negative particles beam focusing. It was demonstrated that
it is possible to create the space charge both due to electron
electrostatic insulation and the electron magnetic insulation.
Note that in the last case, it is possible to reach stronger
focusing electric fields (600 V/cm against 100 V/cm only by
electric insulation). Such electric field strength is sufficient for
the creation of short-focus elements to be used in systems for
manipulating intense beams of negative ions and electrons.
III. ELECTRON BEAM FOCUSING EXPERIMENT

The experiments have been carried out in the Tomsk (High

Current Electronic Institute, SB RAS) with using plasma
lens produced by Institute of Physics NAS of Ukraine.6
Experiments on electron beam transport through a positive
space charge plasma lens were carried out using the setup
shown in Fig. 3.
The beam passes through the lens volume (5-7) to
the sectioned collector (9-13), where electron beam current
distribution along radius has been analyzed. The sectioned
collector has 4 symmetric rings coaxial to the axis of
symmetry.
The beam current is about 100 mA-100 A, energy is in a
range of 725 keV, electron beam diameter6 cm, and pulse
duration120 s. Maximum lens anode potential is 2.5 kV.
The lens discharge current is up to 100 mA, the working gas
is argon, and Ar pressure is 105-104 Torr.
The electron beam was extracted from the plasma of a
hollow anode discharge through a fine grid. The plasma inside

(1/r) (rU/r)/r + 2U/z 2 = 4qi ni ,

dvi
1
Mi
= qi E + [vi B] ,
dt
c
V div( jout) = S jin,

Es dS =
dV.
S

These equations system is used for computer simulations of

the steady-state potential distributions in formatting dynamic
positive space charge cloud and for focusing propagating
through volume lens intense electron beam. The equations
system is solved analytically and numerically by particle-in-

FIG. 3. Wide aperture plasma electron source: 1plasma cathode, 2

hollow anode, 3emission grid, and 4accelerating electrode. Plasma lens:
5permanent magnets, 6anode, 7cathode, and 8electron beam.
Reuse of AIP Publishing content is subject to the terms at: https://publishing.aip.org/authors/rights-and-permissions. Download to IP: 103.27.9.50 On: Mon, 21 Mar

2016 04:12:27

02B901-3

A. A. Goncharov

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87, 02B901 (2016)

the anode of the electron source was produced by an erosion

plasma generator based on a dielectric flashover-initiated arc
discharge in desorbed gas and vapors of dielectric ablation
products. Plasma generators of this type are distinguished for
their design simplicity, rather high reliability, and incredibly
wide range of parameters such as operating pressure, discharge
current value, and pulse duration. So as to increase the
discharge initiation, lens has a system of permanent magnets
that produces an axially symmetric magnetic field between
the poles of a magnetic circuit serving as cathode. The
magnetic field is controlled by varying the number of
magnets or by using magnetic shunts. Because the magnetic
field configuration is typical of the single magnetic lens
configuration, the lens will focus the passing electron beam.
When a positive potential is applied to the anode, a discharge
in the axial magnetic and radial electric crossed fields is
ignited between the anode and the cathode. The electrons thus
drift along closed trajectories in the azimuthally direction,
repeatedly ionize atoms of the working gas, and gradually
diffuse to the anode. The ions thus formed are accelerated in
the strong electric field created by the electron space charge
and leave the ion source through a hole in the acceleration
channel. The axially converging ion beam creates a positive
space charge. In the experiments, the energy of the converging
beam could reach up to 2.4 keV. In the region of positive
space charge, an electrostatic plasma lens arises, being suitable
for focusing beams of negatively charged particles, including
electrons.
The study of lens focusing and manipulating properties
was performed in different plasma electron sources operational
regimes. The experiments were carried out in low-current
mode, for which typical electron beam current was in range
of 100-300 mA, beam energy 7-16 keV, and in high-current
mode for which the total beam current was up to 100 A and
energy up to 20 keV.
Typical focusing effect by PL with positive space charge
cloud in case of low-current mode is shown in Fig. 4.
In case of high-current mode, imprint of focusing
wideaperture electron beam is shown in Fig. 5.

FIG. 5. Imprint of the focused electron beam on the stainless steel target.
The dimensions are in mm. Total electron beam current100 A, energy
beam16 kV, lens voltage1 kV, and lens current100 mA.

These first experimental results demonstrate an attractive

applications positive space charged PL with magnetic electron
insulation for focusing and manipulating wide aperture, highcurrent, no relativistic electron beams.
For relatively low-current mode for which electron beam
space charged less than positive space charged plasma lens,
it realizes electrostatic focusing passing electron beam. This
means the effect of E-field that exceeds the effect of H-field.
In case of high-current mode when electron beam space
charge is much more than space charge PL, the lens operates
in plasma mode to create transparent plasma accelerating
electrode and to compensate space charge propagating electron beam. The lens H-field in this case is used for effective
focusing beam. Under described experimental conditions, the
electron beam was compressed from its initial diameter of
6 cm to a diameter of 1 cm; the current density thus increased
more than 30 times and was greater than 100 A/cm2.
IV. PLASMA-OPTICAL FILTER FOR CLEARING
MICRO-DROPLETS

For the first time, we have proposed a new more

practical and attractive approach for the effective removal
of the micro-droplets (or their reduction to the nanoscale)
as well as its conservation and incorporation into the ionplasma flow produced by erosion plasma sources (vacuum
arc or laser produced plasma). This approach is based on
application of the cylindrical plasma lens configuration for
introducing in a volume of propagating along axis dense low
temperature plasma flow convergent toward axis energetic
electron beam produced by ion-electron secondary emission
from electrodes of plasma optical tool. The first experiments
and theoretical estimations7,8 demonstrate the attractiveness of
an idea of the new plasma-optical tool application for effective
additional evaporation and destroying of liquid metal droplets
in a propagating intense flow of dense metal plasma. The
simplified schematic of a new plasma-optical system utilizing
an electron beam for effective elimination of micro-droplets
in passing arc metal plasma flow is shown in Fig. 6.
In the Fig. 6, C is the cathode, A is the anode, D is the
diaphragm, MC is the magnetic system, M are the magnetic
field lines, is the area of thin plasma sheath, in which the
strong radial electrical field can be supported, C1 is the hollow

FIG. 4. Distribution of electron beam current density along the beam path.
Beam energy 10 keV, beam current 200 mA, magnetic field at the lens center
B(0,0) 50 Gs, and Ar pressure 1 104 Torr. The lens discharge current is
5 mA. The bottom curve is pure electrostatic focusing effect.
Reuse of AIP Publishing content is subject to the terms at: https://publishing.aip.org/authors/rights-and-permissions. Download to IP: 103.27.9.50 On: Mon, 21 Mar

2016 04:12:27

02B901-4

A. A. Goncharov

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87, 02B901 (2016)

FIG. 6. Schematic of clearing micro-droplets from a vacuum arc plasma

flow.

cylinder, from which internal surface produced electrons of

secondary ion-electron emission.
The application of a negative potential to the cylindrical
electrode C1 can result in the formation of a spatial layer
<< e eEr/meHe2, with a large electrical field Er . This
field is mainly directed along the radius. The presented
inequality can be written in more clear form,
He/pe(e0/Te)1/4(10/9)1/2 << 1.
Here, Te is the plasma electron temperature, 0 is the near wall
jump of electrical potential. He and pe are electron cyclotron
and electron Langmuir frequencies, respectively. As one can
see, this inequality is fulfilled better under lower magnetic
field values. At the same time, it needs to remember this
plasma optical system, for which the following inequalities
are correct:
He << R << Hi.
The electrical field Er in the layer accelerates plasma
ions to an internal surface of the hollow cylinder C1. The
voltage U = 1/2 kV is supplied to the electrode. As a
result of secondary ion-electron emission, the beam of highenergy electrons with velocity Vb (2e0/me)1/2 and current
density (jb = jis, where is the rate of secondary ion-electron
emission) is formed in a thin layer << Vb/He. This electron
beam, self-consistently injected from the inner cylindrical
surface of electrode C1 toward the axis, is an additional
effective source of energy for effective evaporation of microdrops. During time of flight, micro-droplets through system
L/Vd with velocity Vd = 10/100 m/s, the electron beam can

FIG. 8. SEM photo of copper micro-droplets B = 0 Gs and U = 0 V.

pump energy sufficient for micro-drop evaporation and destroy

as this shows theoretical estimations and calculations.
In order to test, check, and investigate, the idea of plasmaoptical droplet filter was assembled. The experimental setup
is shown in Fig. 7.
The experiments have been carried out under the following experimental conditions:
DC discharge arc current: 60-90 A.
Discharge voltage: 20 V at B = 0 Gs.
Discharge voltage: 40 V at B = 360 Gs.
Substrate bias = 200 V.
Substrate area: 1 cm2.
Additional gas Ar with pressure up to 3 104 Torr.
Total deposition time during these experiments for different
conditions was the same: 3 min.
Residual pressure at vacuum chamber is 3 105 Torr.
Distance between the substrate and the target (arc cathode) is
250 mm.
Cathode diameter (Cu) is 20 mm.
In Figs. 8 and 9, one can see the scanning electron microscope (SEM) photos (square of images 250 m 330 m)
showing the results of copper deposition onto stainless steel
samples.
These experimental results demonstrate the workability
of an idea of application of the new plasma-optical system
with a convergent and oscillating fast electrons for effective
additional evaporation and destroying of liquid metal droplets
in a flow of dense metal plasma formed by erosion plasma
sources.

FIG. 7. Experimental setup.

FIG. 9. B = 360 Gs and U = 900 V.
Reuse of AIP Publishing content is subject to the terms at: https://publishing.aip.org/authors/rights-and-permissions. Download to IP: 103.27.9.50 On: Mon, 21 Mar
2016 04:12:27

02B901-5

A. A. Goncharov

V. CONCLUSION

The aim of this review is to discuss an achieved

modern understanding level physical mechanisms determining
progress in the development of new generation plasma optical
tools based on plasma lens configuration and fundamental
plasma optical principles of electron magnetic insulation and
equipotentialization magnetic field lines. Along with early
described plasma devices, two novel plasma optical tools
perspective for state-of-the-art applications for focusing and
manipulating negative charged intense particle beams and for
filtering micro droplets from propagating toward substrate
dense plasmas flow formed by erosion plasma sources were
described.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to thank very much Efim Oks,

Vasily Gushenets, and Vasiliy Maslov for their helpful
suggestions and valuable support.

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87, 02B901 (2016)

The work is partly supported by the joint Ukrainian

Russian research program, the grant of 34-08-14 (Ukr) and No.
14-08-90400 (RFBR); in part, by the grant of 34-08-15 (Ukr)
and partly by the STCU-NASU Grant No. 6059.
1A.

Goncharov, Invited review article: The electrostatic plasma lens, Rev.

Sci. Instrum. 84, 021101 (2013).
2A. A. Goncharov and I. G. Brown, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 35(4), 986
(2007).
3A. Goncharov, A. Dobrovolskiy, S. Dunets, A. Evsyukov, I. Litovko, V.
Gushenets, and E. Oks, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 39, 1408 (2011).
4A. A. Goncharov, A. N. Dobrovolsky, S. N. Dunets, I. V. Litovko, V. I.
Gushenets, and E. M. Oks, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 83, 02B723 (2012).
5A. Dobrovolskiy, S. Dunets, A. Evsykov, A. Goncharov, V. Gushenets, I.
Litovko, and E. Oks, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81(2), 704707 (2010).
6V. Gushenets, A. Goncharov, A. Dobrovolskiy, S. Dunets, I. Litovko, E. Oks,
and A. Bugaev, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 41(4), 21712174 (2013).
7A. A. Goncharov, V. I. Maslov, and A. Fisk, in 55th SVC Annual Technical
Conference Proceedings, Santa Clara, CA, USA (Society of Vacuum
Coaters, 2012), pp. 441444.
8A. Fisk, V. Maslov, and A. Goncharov, U.S. patent application
# 2014/0034484A1 (6 February 2014).

Reuse of AIP Publishing content is subject to the terms at: https://publishing.aip.org/authors/rights-and-permissions. Download to IP: 103.27.9.50 On: Mon, 21 Mar
2016 04:12:27