plasma source u201d is intended to encompass any device capable of transforming molecules to an altered state altered states include not only plasma but also ions excited neutrals and metastable molecules as is well known ions are simply atoms or molecules with an electrical charge associated with them such as bf 2 excited neutrals refer to atoms or molecules which are still neutral in charge however these atoms or molecules have one or more electrons in an excited energy state finally metastable molecules refer to molecule configurations which can be created such as b 2 f 4 or b 4 f 5 however these molecules may not remain in those configurations for long periods of time as they are likely to recombine or breakdown into more common molecular configurations each of these altered states plasma ions excited neutrals and metastable molecules are of interest therefore it is not a requirement that the remote plasma generator actually create a plasma as its output when the remote plasma source 200 is enabled the molecules from the source gas 40 pass through the mfc 220 and enter the plasma source based on the type of remote plasma source and its operating parameters the source gas can be altered in certain cases source gas is acted upon to produce excited neutrals metastable molecules or ionic molecules in other cases the source gas is defragmented into atomic and or smaller molecular species in yet other embodiments the source gas combines to generate heavier or metastable molecules if maximum extraction current of a specific ion species is required the source gas injection can.