First Point Scientific - advanced concepts and their applications in the areas of plasma physics, particle beam technology, pulsed power, and electronics.

Positron Beam Systems

First Point Scientific, Inc. (FPSI) is currently developing a positron beam system based on a novel trap-based approach for applications in material surface analysis.

System Description: Positrons are accumulated from a radioactive source in a Penning trap, manipulated to enhance beam parameters, and then released to produce a high quality positron beam. Novel capabilities include high efficiency brightness enhancement, beam bunching, and the production of ultra cold positron beams. A picture of the positron beam generation system and one of the traps are shown below.

Performance Goals: Slow positron flux: 1—10 million/sec. Pulse widths <200 ps. Positron beams with diameters of <1 micron can potentially be produced using advanced positron manipulation techniques now being developed by FPSI.

Applications: Positron beams can provide information about the composition, crystal structure and defect characteristics of surfaces and solids. In particular, positron techniques are unmatched in their ability to measure vacancy-type defects. This capability is of great importance in measuring damage by ion implantation in semiconductors, and in measuring the dielectric properties of low-k dielectric films being developed for use in integrated circuits. Positron beams also have applications in basic research.

Click here for a detailed list of materials analysis applications.

Project Status: FPSI currently developing a laboratory prototype, trap-based positron beam system. The front end of the system became operational in January 2002 and the complete systems will be operational by the end of 2002.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No DMI-0078468 and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) under contract No. N00014-00-C-0710. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of FPSI and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF or ONR.

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