Analysis of correctness of intense ion beam diagnostics based on the ion-current density

The results of a comparative analysis of the correctness of intense-ion-beam diagnostics, which is based on measurements of the ion-current-density and energy-density amplitudes, are presented. It is shown that when a nanosecond-duration pulsed ion beam is used to modify a surface, the main factor that determines changes in the properties of a treated item is a thermal effect rather than the ion implantation. The analysis of the influence of such factors as the ion-energy variation, the ion-beam composition, accelerated neutrals, the variation in the accelerating voltage, the diagnostics locality, and other factors on the accuracy of controlling the ion-beam impact on a target was performed. It was found that analyzing the stability of the thermal effect of an ion beam on the target on the basis of the amplitude of an ion-current density pulse yields an overestimated standard-deviation value. It was shown that measurements of the energy density provide more accurate and complete information that does not contain systematic errors.