ION SOURCES AND METHODS OF OPERATING AN ELECTROMAGNET OF AN ION SOURCE

ION SOURCES AND METHODS OF OPERATING AN ELECTROMAGNET OF AN ION SOURCE FOR GENERATING AN ION BEAM WITH A CONTROLLABLE ION CURRENT DENSITY DISTRIBUTION. THE ION SOURCE (10) INCLUDES A DISCHARGE CHAMBER (16) AND AN ELECTROMAGNET (42; 42A-D) ADAPTED TO GENERATE A MAGNETIC FIELD (75) FOR CHANGING A PLASMA DENSITY DISTRIBUTION INSIDE THE DISCHARGE CHAMBER (16). THE METHODS MAY INCLUDE GENERATING PLASMA (17) IN THE DISCHARGE SPACE (24), GENERATING AND SHAPING A MAGNETIC FIELD (75) IN THE DISCHARGE SPACE (24) BY APPLYING A CURRENT TO AN ELECTROMAGNET (42; 42A-D) THAT IS EFFECTIVE TO DEFINE THE PLASMA DENSITY DISTRIBUTION, EXTRACTING AN ION BEAM (15) FROM THE PLASMA (17), MEASURING A DISTRIBUTION PROFILE FOR THE ION BEAM DENSITY, AND COMPARING THE ACTUAL DISTRIBUTION PROFILE WITH A DESIRED DISTRIBUTION PROFILE FOR THE ION BEAM DENSITY. BASED UPON THE COMPARISON, THE CURRENT APPLIED TO THE ELECTROMAGNET (42; 42A-D) MAY BE ADJUSTED TO MODIFY MAGNETIC FIELD (75) THE MAGNETIC FIELD IN THE DISCHARGE SPACE AND, THEREBY, ALTER THE PLASMA DENSITY DISTRIBUTION.