Development and application of highly charged ion source

The interaction of slow highly charged ions (HCIs) with solid surfaces is useful for 'nanoprocess'; the modification, activation, machining and analysis in nanometer scale. An electron beam ion source 'Kobe EBIS' has been developed for the application of HCIs to nanoprocesses. The ion source produces ion beams of Arq+ (q ≤ 12) HCI in the nanoampere range. The ion source was applied to irradiate samples in order to investigate the structural or electric modification effect of HCIs with high fluence on the topmost layers of sample surfaces.