Patent ID: 8864959

Claim:
A method for manufacturing workpieces, at least a part of a surface of said workpieces being etched including etched by ion impact, comprising: providing a carousel base drivingly rotatable about a carousel axis; providing along a periphery of and on said carousel base at least two planetary carriers, each drivingly rotatable about a planetary axis parallel to said carousel axis; generating a cloud comprising ions and having, in a cross-sectional plane perpendicular to said carousel axis and perpendicular to said planetary axis, a center axis of said cloud in a center of an area of maximum ion density; directing said center axis so as to intersect with said carousel axis, in said cross-sectional plane; applying at least one workpiece to be etched on each of said planetary carriers, each of said planetary carriers defining by rotating about its planetary axis a diameter with respect to such planetary axis; said cloud comprising ions having an ion density dropping to 50% of maximum ion density of said cloud at a distance from said center axis which is at most equal to 50% of said diameter, in said cross-sectional plane, and at a locus of a moving path of said planetary axes; rotating said carousel base and said planetary carriers about said respective axes; and etching the workpieces as the workpiece are moved into and through said cloud.