Abstract
In this present work the electrical properties of Kaufman type fine mesh single grid ion source were investigated for low energy ion irradiation during deposition of the semiconductor or superconductor films which were sensitive to defects due to high energy ion bomberdment. A 5.8 cm diameter ion source with a 1.7 cm diameter extraction grid of tungsten mesh (100 mesh/inch) was fablicated and tested. Maximum argon ion current density of 0.97 mA/cm2 over the energy range from 40 to 150 eV was obtained. The ion energy and the ion current density independently varied with the acceleration voltage and the discharge current respectively.
