In this letter, we describe a unique method of producing hyperthermal neutrals for material processing. The hyperthermal neutrals are produced by accelerating ions across a sheath from a plasma onto a surface. On impact, the ions are neutralized and reflected with ～ 50 of their incident energy. These neutrals then bounce off of additional surfaces prior to impacting the target. This unique multiple bounce system was developed for the following reasons: to reduce contamination from sputtered surface material, improve beam uniformity, and reduce UV radiation in the beam path. As a test of this method, we built a prototype beam source and used it to ash photoresist at rates up to 0.022 μm/min. These rates are consistent with a predicted neutral beam flux, 2 ×10↑(14)cm↑(-2)s↑(-1) In addition, a simple model is used to indicate that this method is capable of producing economically acceptable ash rates. Comparisons with other neutral-beam production methods are made. # 1997 American Institute of Physics. S0003-6951 (97)02433-9
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