Patent ID: 8226884

Claim:
An apparatus for producing alloy ingots comprising: a melting assembly comprising a pressure-regulated chamber, and at least one wire-discharge ion plasma electron emitter disposed in or adjacent the pressure regulated chamber and positioned to direct a three-dimensional wide-area field of electrons into the chamber, the three-dimensional wide-area field of electrons having sufficient energy to heat an alloy material to its melting temperature; an atomizing assembly in fluid communication with the melting assembly, the atomizing assembly comprising at least one electron emitter, and the atomizing assembly configured to impinge electrons on a molten alloy and produce molten alloy particles; a field generating assembly adjacent the atomizing assembly, the field generating assembly comprising at least one field generating device configured to produce at least one of an electrostatic field and an electromagnetic field that can influence molten alloy particles; and a collector configured to receive molten alloy particles, wherein the particles of molten alloy are directed to the collector by the at least one field.