Neutralization of space charge on high-current low-energy ion beam by low-energy electrons supplied from silicon based field emitter arrays

Neutralization of space charge on a high-current and low-energy ion beam was attempted to reduce the divergence with an aid of low-energy electrons supplied from silicon based field emitter arrays (Si-FEAs). An argon ion beam with the energy of 500 eV and the current of 0.25 mA was produced by a microwave ion source. The initial beam divergence and the emittance were measured at the entrance of the analysis chamber in order to estimate the intrinsic factors for beam divergence. The current density distribution of the beam after transport of 730 mm was measured by a movable Faraday cup, with and without electron supply from Si-FEAs. A similar experiment was performed with tungsten filaments as an electron source. The results indicated that the electron supply from FEA had almost the same effect as the thermionic filament, and it was confirmed that both electron sources can neutralize the ion beam.