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Whereas energetic ion beams are conventionally produced by extracting ions (say, positive ions) from a plasma that is held at high (positive) potential, with ion energy determined by the potential drop through which the ions fall in the beam formation electrode system, in the device described here the plasma and its electronics are held at ground potential and the ion beam is formed and injected energetically into a space maintained at high (negative) potential. We refer to this configuration as an "inverted ion source." This approach allows considerable savings both technologically and economically, rendering feasible some ion beam applications, in particular small-scale ion implantation, that might otherwise not be possible for many researchers and laboratories. We have developed a device of this kind utilizing a metal vapor vacuum arc plasma source, and explored its operation and beam characteristics over a range of parameter variation. The downstream beam current has been measured as a function of extraction voltage (5-35 kV), arc current (50-230 A), metal ion species (Ti, Nb, Au), and extractor grid spacing and beamlet aperture size (3, 4, and 5 mm). The downstream ion beam current as measured by a magnetically-suppressed Faraday cup was up to as high as 600 mA, and with parametric variation quite similar to that found for the more conventional metal vapor vacuum arc ion source.

We describe work in which gold nanoparticles were formed in diamond-like carbon (DLC), thereby generating a Au-DLC nanocomposite. A high-quality, hydrogen-free DLC thin film was formed by filtered vacuum arc plasma deposition, into which gold nanoparticles were introduced using two different methods. The first method was gold ion implantation into the DLC film at a number of decreasing ion energies, distributing the gold over a controllable depth range within the DLC. The second method was co-deposition of gold and carbon, using two separate vacuum arc plasma guns with suitably interleaved repetitive pulsing. Transmission electron microscope images show that the size of the gold nanoparticles obtained by ion implantation is 3–5 nm. For the Au-DLC composite obtained by co-deposition, there were two different nanoparticle sizes, most about 2 nm with some 6–7 nm. Raman spectroscopy indicates that the implanted sample contains a smaller fraction of sp3 bonding for the DLC, demonstrating that some sp3 bonds are destroyed by the gold implantation.

Gold ion implantation into alumina using an "inverted ion source" configuration. Gold ion implantation into alumina using an "inverted ion source" configuration a) We describe an approach to ion implantation in which the plasma and its electronics are held at ground potential and the ion beam is injected into a space held at high negative potential, allowing considerable savings both economically and technologically. We used an "inverted ion implanter" of this kind to carry out implantation of gold into alumina, with Au ion energy 40 keV and dose (3-9) × 10 16 cm −2 . Resistivity was measured in situ as a function of dose and compared with predictions of a model based on percolation theory, in which electron transport in the composite is explained by conduction through a random resistor network formed by Au nanoparticles. Excellent agreement is found between the experimental results and the theory. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Composites of titanium nanoparticles in alumina were formed by ion implantation of titanium into alumina, and the surface electrical conductivity measured in situ as the implantation proceeded, thus generating curves of sheet conductivity as a function of dose. The implanted titanium self-conglomerates into nanoparticles, and the spatial dimensions of the buried nanocomposite layer can thus be estimated from the implantation depth profile. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry was performed to measure the implantation depth profile, and was in good agreement with the calculated profile. Transmission electron microscopy of the titanium-implanted alumina was used for direct visualization of the nanoparticles formed. The measured conductivity of the buried layer is explained by percolation theory. We determine that the saturation dose, φ0, the maximum implantation dose for which the nanocomposite material still remains a composite, is φ0 = 2.2 × 1016 cm−2, and the corresponding saturation conductivity is σ0 = 480 S/m. The percolation dose φc, below which the nanocomposite still has basically the conductivity of the alumina matrix, was found to be φc = 0.84 × 1016 cm−2. The experimental results are discussed and compared with a percolation theory model.