The operation of a glow discharge ion gun used for specimen thinning

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Abstract
The operation of a cold cathode ion source with perforated cathode and anode plates has been studied. The source is of the Paulus and Reverchon type commonly used for thinning electron microscope specimens by sputtering. the ion source was operated with an anode- cathode spacing of 1.5 mm at an applied voltage of 6 kV. Calculations indicated that the operating pressure and current density for argon were 0.5 torr and 0.5 A cm-2 respectively. It is shown that under these conditions the current flowing is limited to less than 1 mA and the glow discharge is localized in the region of the perforations where the electron ionizing paths are greatest. A stable discharge is obtained when the diameter of an anode hole is two to four times that of a cathode hole.

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