Patent ID: 6864485

Claim:
Ion optics for use with an ion source comprising: a first electrically conductive grid having a first plurality of apertures through which ions may pass and also having an integral peripheral portion; a second electrically conductive grid spaced and electrically isolated from said first grid and having a second plurality of apertures through which ions may pass and also having an integral peripheral portion, wherein said second plurality of apertures are mutually aligned with said first plurality of apertures; a first plurality of moment means applied to a circumferentially distributed plurality of locations on said peripheral portion of said first grid, thereby establishing by elastic deformation an annular segment of a cone as the approximate shape for said peripheral portion and a segment of a sphere as the approximate dished shape for said first grid as a whole; a second plurality of moment means applied to a circumferentially distributed plurality of locations on said peripheral portion of said second grid, thereby establishing by elastic deformation an annular segment of a cone as the approximate shape for said peripheral portion and a segment of a sphere as the approximate dished shape for said second grid as a whole; and wherein the relative directions and magnitudes of said first and second pluralities of moments are such that the directions of deformation and the approximate spherical radii are the same for said first and second grids.