Patent ID: 7723707

Claim:
A plasma injection system for space charge neutralization of an ion beam, comprising: a first array of magnets and a second array of magnets positioned along at least a portion of an ion beam path the first array being on a first side of the ion beam path to produce a first multi-cusp magnetic field, and the second array being on a second side of the ion beam path to produce a second multi-cusp magnetic field, and the first side opposing the second side, at least two adjacent magnets in the first array of magnets having opposite polarity; and a plasma source configured to generate a plasma in a plasma chamber, the plasma source having a magnetic source to generate a local dipole magnetic field in the plasma chamber, and the plasma source having an aperture, wherein the local dipole magnetic field is aligned with the aperture and the first multi-cusp magnetic field to distribute the plasma along the ion beam path.