METHOD FOR GENERATING A PULSED ELECTRON BEAM AND TRIGGER PLASMA SOURCE FOR CARRYING OUT THE METHOD

摘要

According to the invention, an electron beam impulse which has a high current intensity and which can always be reproduced can be generated for long durations by the method and by the trigger plasma source for carrying out said method. The electron beam impulse is extremely well-suited for the ablation of thin layers on an exposed substrate. A pulsed Penning discharge occurs in the trigger plasma source. Rather than using surface discharge to form the electron beam, a clean gas discharge is used which does not disadvantageously influence the proceeding process sequence due to impurities. The potentials independently develop on the trigger plasma source after applying the magnetic field for the Penning discharge, said magnetic field being required for triggering.