Laser ion beam formation for nanotechnologies

It is suggested to generate cold ion beams by laser collimation and subsequent laser ionization of a primary atomic beam. The primary beam, formed by a standard method, is collimated through transverse cooling by resonance laser radiation. Laser radiation is also used for the multistep ionization of atoms in the collimated beam. Advantages of the proposed method are a low scatter of the initial ion energy (below 10^?1 eV) and a high emittance in the region of the virtual source (～10^?6 cm rad at a beam current on the level of microamperes). The high monochromaticity of the obtained ion beam allows the chromatic aberration effect to be significantly suppressed, which implies good prospects for using such sources in ion beam lithography. The proposed method also allows the spectrum of elements used in ion beam sources to be expanded, which is an independent technological advantage.