Patent ID: 7105840

Claim:
For use with semiconductor processing equipment having an ion source, a workpiece support and a transport system for delivering ions from the source to a region of the workpiece support, said source comprising: an arc chamber for ionizing a source material routed into an arc chamber interior; and a source housing for mounting said arc chamber within a vacuum environment in said semiconductor processing equipment; said arc chamber including an arc chamber support flange having a gas inlet and a tube for routing gas from the gas inlet to a gas outlet which opens into said arc chamber interior; and said source housing including a source housing flange that sealingly engages with the arc chamber support flange to form a vacuum seal around a circumferential region of the arc chamber support flange that surrounds the gas inlet of said arc chamber support flange between an evacuated region within the arc chamber and a region at atmospheric pressure outside the source housing and further wherein the source housing flange includes a gas throughpassage which directs gas into the gas inlet of the arc chamber support flange.