Initial Design Of A 1 Megawatt Average, 150 Kilovolt Pulse Modulator For An Industrial Plasma Source Ion Implantation Processor

Plasma Source Ion Implantation (PSII) is a materials surface modification process which can be used to improve performance characteristics of manufacturing tooling and products. Since improvements can be realized in surface hardness, reduced friction, wear, galling, and increased resistance to corrosion, PSI1 is applicable to a broad spectrum of manufactured items. In PSII, the object to be implanted is placed in a weakly ionized plasma and pulsed to a high negative voltage. The plasma ions are accelerated into the object's surface, thereby changing its' chemical and physical composition. The plasma dynamic load impedance is highly variable, dependent on implant object area, plasma density, and material composition. The modulator load impedance may be a few tens of ohms and a few thousand picofarads early in time. Late in time, the load may appear as 20,000 Ohms and 100 picofarads. The modulator system must accommodate any process changes, in addition to (frequent) initial "start-up" object arcs (from impurities). To implant the required ion densities in a minimum of time, multi-kilohertz rep-rates are often required. An evolutionary design approach was utilized to design a cost-effective and reliable modulator system with components of established performance, suitable for a manufacturing environment. This paper, in addition to presenting the anticipated modulator design required for the PSI1 application, wi l l review similar modulator topologies and determine operational lifetime characteristics. Further improvements in system electrical efficiency can also be realized with incremental design modifications to the high voltage switch tubes. Development options for upgraded switch tubes of higher efficiency will also be presented.