Ion Beam Current Measurement - Product Fact Sheet0 pages

Keysight Technologies
Ion Beam Current Measurement - Product Fact Sheet
The Keysight B2980A Series Femto/Picoammeter and Electrometer/
High Resistance Meter Facilitates Stable Ion Beam Adjustment.
This one-pager describes how the B2980A Series Femto/Picoammeter can facilitate the adjustment
of ion beam systems (including the cable interfacing) to improve measurement results.

Ion beam technology
Where is ion beam technology used?
Ion beam technology is widely used in engineering, biology, medical science and the
physical sciences.
Major applications include:
–– Ion implanters used in semiconductor wafer processing.
–– Materials research in areas such as superconductivity and mass spectroscopy for
materials analysis.
–– Marking and destroying chemical materials and cancer cells.

Ion beam calibration is crucial
To insure accurate results, an ion beam should be calibrated before use. During
calibration the following parameters are typically calibrated by measuring the ion beam
current using an ammeter.
–– Ion beam alignment
–– Ion beam strength

Key points in the ion beam current measurement
The following are key points to consider when measuring ion beam current.
–– The ion beam current is typically very small (in the nanoamp or even picoamp
range), so a picoammeter or electrometer is required to make these measurements.
–– The ability to display the beam current behavior in real time greatly facilitates the
ion beam current adjustment process

B2983A Femto/Picoammeter

B2987A Electrometer/
High Resistance Meter

The B2980A Series Femto/Picoammeter is the best
solution for ion beam current measurement
Key ammeter features
–– 2 pA to 20 mA full scale auto-ranging
–– Conveniently located front panel measurement navigation key enables quick
adjustment of both the manual current range and the measurement speed
–– Floating ammeter design allows easy application of a DC bias
–– Electrometer versions with built-in DC bias sources are available (B2985A/B2987A)

Battery operated versions available
Both the picoammeter and electrometer have battery operated versions (B2983A &
B2987A respectively) to improve noise immunity and allow for cord-free operation.

Roll graph view facilitates ion beam adjustment
The B2980A Series’ roll graph view can show the time-based behavior of the ion beam
current, making it easy to determine how
long it takes the beam to stabilize and to
optimize the beam current settings.
–– The Roll graph’s auto-scaling time axis
feature means that data is refreshed in
real time.
–– In addition to Roll view, Graph and
Histogram views are also available to
help with the ion beam optimization

It is easy to monitor changes in the ion beam
current as they occur.