Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. An arc discharge ion source comprising:an arc chamber defined by a chamber wall;a cooling plate proximate to at least an outer side of said chamber wall defining a physical gap between said cooling plate and said chamber wall; anda gas supplied to said gap at a desired gas pressure to control thermal conductance between the chamber wall and the cooling plate so as to regulate the temperature of the arc chamber during ion source operation. 2. The ion source of claim 1 further comprising a conduit configured to supply dopant gas to an interior of said arc chamber. 3. The ion source of claim 1 wherein said physical gap is defined by a machined surface of said cooling plate. 4. The ion source of claim 1 wherein said chamber wall is a unitary piece of thermally and electrically conductive material. 5. The ion source of claim 2 wherein the gas supplied to said gap and the dopant gas are different gases. 6. The ion source of claim 3 wherein a perimeter of said cooling plate forms a seal with a perimeter of said side of said chamber wall to retain said gas within said gap. 7. The ion source of claim 2 further comprising an indirectly heated cathode located at a first end of said chamber configured to emit electrons within said chamber. 8. The ion source of claim 7 further comprising a repeller located within a second end of said chamber, said emitted electrons confined between said cathode and said repeller which collide with said dopant gas supplied to the interior of said chamber to generate plasma therein. 9. The ion source of claim 8 wherein said chamber further comprising an aperture through which ions from said plasma are extracted. 10. A method for controlling a temperature of an ion source chamber comprising:supplying a dopant gas into said ion source chamber wherein said dopant gas collides with electrons confined within said chamber to generate plasma having desired properties;supplying a cooling gas into an interface, said interface defining a physical gap between a wall of said ion source chamber and a plate; andinducing thermal conductance from said interface to said chamber based on a pressure of said, cooling gas within said interface. 11. The method of claim 10 further comprising regulating the pressure of said cooling gas within said interface. 12. An ion source comprising:an arc chamber defined by a first unitary chamber wall and a second chamber wall, said first unitary chamber wall sealingly connected to a first side of said second chamber wall;a cooling plate contiguous with a second side of said second chamber wall, said second side opposite said first side;an interface gap defined between said cooling plate and said second side of said second chamber wall; anda cooling gas supplied to said interface gap inducing thermal conductance from said interface gap to said second chamber wall and said first chamber wall to regulate the temperature of said chamber. 13. The ion source of claim 12 further comprising a conduit configured to supply dopant gas to an interior of said arc chamber. 14. The ion source of claim 12 wherein said cooling gas within said interface has a particular pressure based on a size of said interface gap. 15. The ion source of claim 12 wherein said first and second chamber walls are made from an electrically and thermally conductive material. 16. The ion source of claim 14 wherein a perimeter of said cooling plate forms a seal with a perimeter of said second side of said second chamber wall to retain said cooling gas within said interface gap. 17. The ion source of claim 13 further comprising an indirectly heated cathode located at a first end of said chamber configured to emit electrons within said chamber. 18. The ion source of claim 17 further comprising a repeller located within a second end of said chamber, said emitted electrons confined between said cathode and said repeller which collide with said dopant gas supplied to the interior of said chamber to generate plasma therein. 19. The ion source of claim 18 wherein said chamber further comprising an aperture through which ions from said plasma are extracted.