Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Vacuum = empty space, from vacuus= [Latin] empty. However, there does not
exist a totally empty space in nature, there is no "ideal vacuum". Vacuum is only a
partially empty space, where some of the air and other gases have been removed from a
gas containing volume.
•A pressure lower than atmospheric, in an enclosed area.
•A space in which the pressure is significantly lower than
atmospheric pressure.
•A condition in which the quantity of atmospheric gas present is reduced to the degree
that, for the process involved its effect can be considered negligible.
1. The required system operating pressure and the gaseous impurities that must be
avoided;
2. The frequency with which the system must be vented to the atmosphere, and the
required recycling time;
3. The kind of access to the vacuum system needed for the insertion or removal of
samples
Why vacuum?
In condensed matter physics and materials science, vacuum systems are used in many
surface processing steps. Without the vacuum, such processes as sputtering, evaporative
metal deposition, ion beam implantation, and electron beam lithography would be
impossible.
A high vacuum is required in particle accelerators, from the cyclotrons used to create
radio nuclides in hospitals up to the gigantic high-energy physics colliders such as the
LHC.
• Anything cryogenic (or just very cold) needs to deal with the air
– eliminate thermal convection; avoid liquefying air
• Atomic physics experiments must get rid of confounding air particles
– eliminate collisions
• Sensitive torsion balance experiments must not be subject to air
– buffeting, viscous drag, etc. are problems
• Surface/materials physics must operate in pure environment
– e.g., control deposition of atomic species one layer at a time
The terms “high vacuum”, “ultrahigh vacuum”, “low vacuum” and the like are often used
in vacuum textbooks and laboratory discussions. The borders between the regions are
somewhat arbitrary, but a general guideline is given in Table.
Vacuum ranges
Atmosphere 760 mm of Hg = 760 Torr
Rough vacuum ~ down to 10^-3 T
High vacuum ~ 10^-3 – 10^-8 T
Ultra high vacuum ~10^-9 – 10^-12 T
where P is the pressure in torr, Q is the total flow, or throughput of gas, in torr-L/s, and S
is the pumping speed in L/s.
The influx of gas, Q, can be a combination of a deliberate influx of process gas from an
exterior source and gas originating in the system itself. The most important internal
sources of gas are outgassing from the walls and permeation from the atmosphere, most
frequently through elastomer O-rings. There may also be leaks, but these can readily be
reduced to negligible levels by proper system design and construction.
Don’t confuse throughput and pumping speed. Q depends on p while S does not.
S is defined as the volume of gas/unit time which the pump removes from the
System with pressure p at the inlet of the pump
Characterization of pumps
Types of Pumps
The oil-sealed pump is a positive displacement pump, of either the vane or piston type,
witha compression ratio of the order of 10^5:1
Applications: The pumps are widely used as a backing pump for both diffusion and
turbomolecular pumps; in this application the backstreaming of mechanical pump oil is
intercepted by the high vacuum pump, and a foreline trap is not required.
For low to medium vacuum applications, a mechanical pump may be sufficient and
mechanical pumps in various forms are used as roughing and backing pumps in many
systems. Very common fore vacuum-and general vacuum pump.
Appications:
Common uses of vane pumps include high pressure hydraulic pumps and automotive
uses including, supercharging, power steering and automatic transmission pumps.
Operating Principles:
The simplest vane pump is a circular rotor rotating inside of a larger circular cavity. The
centers of these two circles are offset, causing eccentricity. The rotor has two spring-
loaded vanes mounted opposite each other which separate the stator into two moving
sections. Gas is moved by rotating vanes. A blade sweeps along the walls of a cylinder,
pushing air from the inlet to the exhaust The pump uses oil to maintain sealing, and to
provide lubrication and heat transfer, particularly at the contact between the sliding vanes
and the pump wall.
For “roughing,” or getting the bulk of the air out, one uses mechanical pumps – usually
rotary oil-sealed pumps these give out at ~ 1–10 ^-3Torr.
Advantages:
High capacity from ~10^-2 torr.
Disadvantages:
Potential backstreaming of oil into vacuum chamber.
The diaphragm pump is designed to eliminate the need for sealing oils, which makes for a
cleaner vacuum system.
Applications:
Diaphragm pumps are increasingly used where the absence of oil is an imperative, for
example, as the forepump for compound turbomolecular pumps that
incorporate a molecular drag stage. They are adequate once the system pressure reaches
the operating range of a turbomolecular pump; usually well below 10^2 torr, but not for
rapidly roughing down a large volume.
Operating Principles:
Four diaphragm modules are often arranged in three separate pumping stages, with the
lowest-pressure stage served by two modules in tandem to boost the capacity. Single
modules are adequate for subsequent stages, since the gas has already been compressed to
a smaller volume. Each module uses a flexible diaphragm of Viton or other elastomer, as
well as inlet and outlet valves. The major required maintenance in such pumps is
replacement of the diaphragm after 10,000 to 15,000 hr of operation.
Advantages:
1. Oil free
2. Reliable, low maintenance
Disadvantages:
1. Low capacity
Applications:
Scroll pumps are used in some refrigeration systems, air conditioning equipment, as
an automobile supercharger and as a vacuum pump. Compressed gas volume pushed
towards center outlet. Speeds on the order of 10 L/s and base pressures below 10^2 torr
make this an appealing combination. Speeds decline rapidly at pressures below10^2 torr.
Operating Principles:
Scroll pumps use two enmeshed spiral components, Often, one of the scrolls is fixed,
while the other orbits eccentrically without rotating, thereby trapping and pumping or
compressing pockets of fluid between the scrolls. Another method for producing the
compression motion is co-rotating the scrolls, in synchronous motion, but with offset
centers of rotation. The relative motion is the same as if one were orbiting.
Successive segments of gas are trapped between the two scrolls and compressed from the
inlet (vacuum side) toward the exit, where they are vented to the atmosphere. The life of
the seals is reported to be in the same range as that of the diaphragm in a diaphragm
pump.
Advantages
1. Oil free
2. Reliable, low maintenance
Disadvantages:
1. Low to medium capacity
Applications:
Typically, they are used to supply compressed air for general industrial applications.
Trailer mounted diesel powered units are often seen at construction sites, and are used to
power air operated construction machinery. Pumps based on the principle of the screw
compressor, such as that used in supercharging some high-performance cars.
Operations:
A rotary screw compressors use two helical screws, known as rotors, to compress the gas.
The timing gears ensure that the male and female rotors maintain precise alignment.
Advantages:
1. Pumping speeds in excess of 10 L/s,
2. Direct discharge to the atmosphere, and
3. Ultimate pressures in the 10^-3 torr range.
4. High reliability in diverse applications
5. the closest alternative, in a single unit‘‘dry’’ pump, to the oil-sealed mechanical
pump.
Operating Principles:
Molecular drag pumps work by imparting momentum to the gas molecules through
collision with a quickly spinning rotor. The pump is designed so the momentum transfer
tends to send the molecules towards the exhaust. The pump uses one or more drums
rotating at speeds as high as 90,000 rpm inside stationary, coaxial housings. The
clearance between drum and housing is of the order of 0.3 mm. Gas is dragged in the
direction of rotation by momentum transfer to the pump exit along helical grooves
machined in the housing. It must be supported by a backing pump, often of the
diaphragm type, that can maintain the forepressure below a critical value, typically 10 to
30 torr.
Advantages:
1.) Less leakage,
2.) High compressing ratio and pressure, which can be combined with other
molecular pumps or rotating machinery vacuum pumps by mounting on a
common axe to form a group of combined vacuum pumps with good
performance.
Disadvantages:
1.) The much lower compression ratio for hydrogen.
The sorption pump is a vacuum pump that creates a vacuum by adsorbing molecules on
a very porous material like molecular sieve which is cooled by a cryogen, typically liquid
nitrogen. The ultimate pressure is about 10-2 mbar. With special techniques this can be
lowered till 10-7 mbar.
Applications:
Sorption pumps were introduced for roughing down ultrahigh vacuum systems prior to
turning on a sputter-ion pump.
Operating Principles:
A typical sorption pump is a cannister containing about 3 lb of a molecular sieve material
that is cooled to liquid nitrogen temperature. Under these conditions the molecular sieve
can adsorb 7.6 x 10^4 torr liter of most atmospheric gases; exceptions are helium and
hydrogen, which are not significantly adsorbed, and neon, which is adsorbed to a limited
extent.
The sorption pump is a cyclic pump and its cycle has 3 phases:
1.) Sorption,
3.) Regeneration
1.) In the sorption phase the pump is actually used to create a vacuum. This is achieved
by cooling the pump body to low temperatures, typically by immersing it in a Dewar
flask filled with liquid nitrogen. Gases will now either condense or be adsorbed by the
large surface of the molecular sieve.
2.) In the desorption phase the pump is allowed warm up to room temperature and the
gases escape through the pressure relief valve or other opening to the atmosphere. If the
pump has been used to pump toxic, flammable or other dangerous gasses one has to be
careful to vent safely into the atmosphere as all gases pumped during the sorption phase
will be released during the desorption phase.
3.) In the regeneration phase the pump body is heated to 300 °C to drive off water
vapor that does not desorb at room temperature and accumulates in the molecular sieve. It
takes typically 2 hours to fully regenerate a pump.
The pump can be used in a cycle of sorption and desorption until it loses too much
efficiently and is regenerated or in a cycle where sorption and desorption are always
followed by regeneration.
After filling a sorption pump with new molecular sieve it should always be regenerated as
the new molecular sieve is probably saturated with water vapor. Also when a pump is not
in use it should be closed off from the atmosphere to prevent water vapor saturation.
Advantages:
2.) Cannot effectively pump hydrogen, helium and neon, all gases with lower
condensation temperature than liquid nitrogen.
1.) Diffusion,
2.) Turbomolecular,
4.) Sputter-ion
The practical diffusion pump was invented by Langmuir in 1916, are one of the oldest
and most reliable ways of creating a vacuum down to 10^-10 Torr, or even lower, at 25°
C. A vacuum diffusion pump cannot begin its work with full atmospheric pressure inside
the chamber. Instead, an ancillary mechanical roughing pump (or forepump), capable of a
modest level of pumping, first brings the pressure inside the vacuum diffusion chamber
down to about 10^-3 Torr. At this point, the vacuum diffusion pump takes over to create
a vacuum ranging from 10^-3 to 10^-10 Torr. Since the diffusion pump cannot exhaust
directly to atmospheric pressure, the forepump is used to maintain proper discharge
pressure conditions.
Applications:
A diffusion pump can give satisfactory service in a number of situations. One such case is
in a large system in which cleanliness is not critical. The diffusion pump is widely used
in both industrial and research applications. Most modern diffusion pumps use silicone
oil as the working fluid.
Operating Principles:
A vacuum diffusion pump is basically a stainless steel chamber containing three or more
oil jets operating vertically in series. Typically there are three jet assemblies of
diminishing sizes, with the largest at the bottom. At the base of the chamber is a pool of a
specialized type of oil having a low vapor pressure. The oil is heated to boiling by an
electric heater beneath the floor of the chamber. The high velocity jet collides with gas
molecules that happen to enter it due to their thermal motion. This typically imparts a
downward motion on the molecules and transports them towards the pump outlet,creating
higher vacuum. At the base of the chamber, the condensed molecules of atmospheric
gases are removed by the forepump, while the condensed oil begins another cycle. The
vaporized oil moves upward and is expelled through the jets in the various assemblies.
Water circulated through coils on the outside of the chamber cool the chamber to prevent
thermal runaway and permit operation over long periods of time. There are several types
of oil, based variously on silicones, hydrocarbons, esters, perfluorals, and polyphenyl
ethers that can be used. The polyphenyl ether (Santovac® 5) fluid or oil has been a
worldwide standard for more than 25 years and combines high molecular weight, low
reactivity and exceptional vapor pressure.
To prevent or minimize backstreaming the selection of the oil used is important. If
minimum backstreaming is essential, one can select an oil that has a very low vapor
pressure at room temperature. A polyphenyl ether, such as Santovac 5, or a silicone oil,
such as DC705, would be appropriate. However, for the most oil-sensitive applications, it
is wise to use a liquid nitrogen (LN2) temperature trap between pump and vacuum
chamber.
Justification for calling them diffusion pumps is the observation that the molecules of the
pumped gas penetrate some distance into the vapor jet in a manner resembling diffusion
of one gas into another.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
1.) major disadvantage of diffusion pumps is the tendency to backstream oil into the
vacuum chamber.
2.) Needs cooled baffle to reduce oil contamination of vacuum chamber
Appications:
Turbomolecular pumps were introduced in 1958 (Becker, 1959) and were immediately
hailed as the solution to all of the problems of the diffusion pump.
Operating Principles: The pump is a multistage axial compressor, operating at rotational
speeds from around 20,000 to 90,000 rpm. Gas captured by the upper stages is pushed
into the lower stages and successively compressed to the level of the fore-vacuum
(backing pump) pressure. As the gas molecules enter through the inlet, the rotor, which
has a number of angled blades, hits the molecules. Thus the mechanical energy of the
blades is transferred to the gas molecules. With this newly acquired momentum, the gas
molecules enter into the gas transfer holes in the stator. Because of the relative motion of
rotor and stator, molecules preferably hit the lower side of the blades. Because the blade
surface looks down, most of the scattered molecules will leave it downwards.
This leads them to the next stage where they again collide with the rotor surface, and this
process is continued, finally leading them outwards through the exhaust.
At high speeds, the dominant problem is maintenance of the rotational bearings. Careful
balancing of the rotor is essential; in some models bearings can be replaced in the field, if
rigorous cleanliness is assured, preferably in a clean environment such as a laminar-flow
hood.
In the standard construction, it cannot exhaust to atmospheric pressure, and must be
backed at all times by a forepump. The critical backing pressure is generally in the 10^-1
torr, or lower, region, and an oil-sealed mechanical pump is the most common choice.
Problems with Pumping Reactive Gases: Very reactive gases, common in the
Semiconductor industry, can result in rapid bearing failure. A purge with non reactive
gas, in the viscous flow regime, can prevent the pumped gases from contacting the
bearings.
Advantages:
1.) High capacity
2.) Low maintainance
Disadvantages:
1.) Sudden large gas loads may cause severe, expensive damage.
3.3.) Cryopumps
A cryopump is a vacuum pump that traps gases and vapours by condensing them on a
cold surface.
Applications:
Cryopumping was first extensively used in the space program, where test chambers
modeled the conditions encountered in outer space. These are capture pumps, and, once
operating, are totally isolated from the atmosphere. All pumped gas is stored in the
body of the pump. They must be regenerated on a regular basis, but the quantity of gas
pumped before regeneration is very large for all gases that are captured by condensation.
Only helium, hydrogen, and neon are not effectively condensed. If the refrigeration fails
due to a power interruption or a mechanical failure, the pumped gas will be released
within minutes. All pumps are fitted with a pressure relief valve to avoid explosion, but
provision must be made for the safe disposal of any hazardous gases released.
In fact, a cryopump is really three pumps in one. The inlet array of the pump operates at
60 to 100 K to condense water vapor and heavy hydrocarbons on metal surfaces. Behind
the inlet array, a condensing array operates at 10 to 20 K to capture argon, nitrogen,
oxygen and most other gases. At these temperatures, nearly all gases form dense, ice-like
solids with low vapor pressures. Hydrogen, neon and helium do not form solids at these
temperatures and must be held by adsorption into activated carbon at 10 to 12 K.
Operating Procedure:
Before startup, a cryopump must first be roughed down to some recommended pressure,
often of the order of 1 x 10^-1 torr.
Once the required pressure is reached, the cryopump is isolated from the roughing
line and the refrigeration system is turned on. When the temperature of the second-stage
array reaches 20 K, the pump is ready for operation, and can be opened to the vacuum
chamber, which has previously been roughed down to a selected cross-over pressure.
When the quantity of gas that has been pumped is close to the limiting capacity, the pump
must be regenerated. This procedure involves isolation from the system, turning off the
refrigeration unit, and warming the first- and second-stage arrays until all condensed and
adsorbed gas has been removed. The most common method is to purge these gases using
a warm (about 608 °C) dry gas, such as nitrogen, at atmospheric pressure.
There is some possibility of energetic chemical reactions during regeneration. For
example, ozone, which is generated in some processes, may react with combustible
materials. The use of a non reactive purge gas will minimize hazardous conditions if the
flow is sufficient to dilute the gases released during regeneration. The pump has a high
capital cost and fairly high running costs for power and cooling.
Advantages:
1.) Very High capacity.
2.) No contamination
3.) There are no moving parts in the pump and no vibrations
Disadvantages:
1.) Pump saturates if exposed to high pressure or continuous gas flow.
2.) Need periodic regeneration of cool head.
Applications:
It is commonly used in ultra high vacuum (UHV) systems, as they can attain ultimate
pressures less than 10−10 torr. Sputter ion pumps have no moving parts and use no oil, and
are therefore clean and low-maintenance, and produce no vibration, which is an important
factor when working scanning probe microscopy.
Operating Principles:
The operating mechanisms of sputter-ion pumps are very complex indeed. Ion pumps
produce beams of electrons between a cathode and anode, which are constrained by a
magnetic field to move in helices, greatly increasing their path length and the chance of
ionizing a molecule of the gas. The ionized gas molecules are accelerated to the cathode.
Generally the impact of the gas molecules on the cathode will eject cathode atoms which
sputter onto the surface of a secondary cathode and bury gas molecules, trapping them
there.The pumping mechanisms include the following.
1.) Chemisorption on the sputtered cathode material, which is the predominant
pumping mechanism for reactive gases.
2.) Burial in the cathodes, which is mainly a transient contributor to pumping.
With the exception of hydrogen, the atoms remain close to the surface and are
released as pumping/sputtering continues.
3.) Burial of ions back-scattered as neutrals, in all surfaces within line-of sight of
the impact area. This is a crucial mechanism in the pumping of argon and other
noble gases.
4.) Dissociation of molecules by electron impact. This is the mechanism for
pumping methane and other organic molecules
Advantages:
1.) High reliability, because of no moving parts and oil free.
2.) The ability to bake the pump up to 400 °C, facilitating outgassing and rapid
attainment of UHV conditions.
3.) Fail-safe operation if on a leak-tight UHV system. If the power is interrupted,
a moderate pressure rise will occur; the pump retains some pumping capacity
by gettering. When power is restored, the base pressure is normally reestablished
rapidly.
4.) The pump ion current indicates the pressure in the pump itself, which is
useful as a monitor of performance.
Disadvantages:
Sputter-ion pumps are not suitable for the following uses:
1.) On systems with a high, sustained gas load or frequent venting to atmosphere.
2.) Where a well-defined pumping speed for all gases is required. This limitation
can be circumvented with a severely conductance-limited pump, so the speed is
defined by conductance rather than by the characteristics of the pump itself.
Rare gases are not chemisorbed, but are pumped by burial. The release of argon, buried
as atoms in the cathodes, sometimes causes a sudden increase in pressure of as
much as three decades, followed by renewed pumping, and a concomitant drop in
pressure. The unstable behavior is repeated at regular intervals, once initiated. This
problem can be avoided in two ways:
Applications:
Getters are used in photomultiplier tubes and other sealed systems to remove gases which
penetrate the system or desorb from the surface after the device is disconnected from
active pumps. In the form called the “non-evaporative getter” or NEG, getters are used in
particle accelerators where very large but extremely narrow (low flow rate)
volumes are evacuated.
Operating Principles:
Usually getters are activated by heating, which pumps the gas from the surface into the
bulk of the getter. This prevents the getter from being saturated while in storage or during
initial pumpdown. Some practical getters used a ‘‘flash getter,’’ a stable compound of
barium and aluminum that could be heated, using an RF coil, once the tube had been
sealed, to evaporate a mirror-like barium deposit on the tube wall. Such films initially
offer rapid pumping, but once the surface is covered, a much slower rate of pumping is
sustained by diffusion into the bulk of the film. These getters are the forerunners of the
modern sublimation pump.
A second type of getter used a reactive metal, such as titanium or zirconium wire,
operated at elevated temperature; gases react at the metal surface to produce stable,
low-vapor-pressure compounds that then diffuse into the interior, allowing a sustained
reaction at the surface.These getters are the forerunners or the modern nonevaporable
getter (NEG).
Advantages:
1.) Large pumping speed,
2.) Large pumping capacity,
3.) Unlimited ultimate pressure,
4.) Compact, inexpensive and easily operated.
Disadvantages:
1.) No pumping for inert gases, and
2.)L ocalised pumping (not very suitable for conductance-limited vacuum systems, as
those of particle accelerators).
3.6.) Sublimation pumps
The titanium sublimation pump is a true UHV pump. It is used to supplement the
pumping action of other UHV pumps (normally ion pumps) as it can be more effective at
pumping certain gases. Sublimation pumps are frequently used in combination with a
sputter-ion pump, to provide highspeed pumping for reactive gases. These pumps have
been used in combination with turbomolecular pumps to compensate for the limited
hydrogen-pumping performance of older designs. The newer, compound turbomolecular
pumps avoid this need.
Operating Principles:
Most sublimation pumps use a heated titanium surface to sublime a layer of atomically
clean metal onto a surface, commonly the wall of a vacuum chamber.
The titanium sublimation pump (TSP) consists of three removable hairpin-shaped
filaments. They are made from an alloy of titanium and molybdenum and are mounted in
a simple carrier designed to have low electrical resistance. A high current, from an
external power supply, is passed through the filament, raising its temperature so that
titanium is sublimed directly from the filament (titanium vapour is produced
from solid without the material going through the liquid phase). This sublimed titanium
then coats the nearby walls of the chamber. The resultant clean titanium film reacts with
the active gas molecules to form low vapour pressure compounds (i.e. the gases
are effectively removed). Once the film has fully reacted it must be replaced by more
sublimed titanium. The time between the regenerative evaporation depends on the
pressure of the system and the gas types being pumped
One can obtain large pumping speeds for reactive gases such as oxygen and nitrogen.
To enhance the pumping speed of the titanium film the condensing wall can be cooled to
liquid nitrogen temperatures. It should be noted that this reservoir must be carefully
designed to give a maximum surface area in the region of the titanium film so as to
maximize pumping speed.
Advantages:
1.) It is simple, low cost, and
2.) Can give a high pumping speed.
Disadvantages:
1.) The speed falls dramatically as the surface is covered by even one monolayer.
Although the sublimation process must be repeated periodically to compensate for
saturation, in an ultrahigh vacuum system the time between sublimation cycles
can be many hours.
2.) A sublimator can only pump reactive gases and must always be used in
combination with a pump for remaining gases, such as the rare gases and
methane.
Applications:
In vacuum systems, NEGs can provide supplementary pumping of reactive gases, being
particularly effective for hydrogen, even at ambient temperature. They are most suitable
for maintaining low pressures. A niche application is the removal of reactive impurities
from rare gases such as argon. NEGs find wide application in maintaining low pressures
in sealed-off devices.
Operating Principles:
In one form of NEG, the reactive metal is carried as a thin surface layer on a supporting
substrate. An example is an alloy of Zr/16%Al supported on either a soft iron or
nichrome substrate. The getter is maintained at a temperature of around _4008C, either
by indirect or ohmic heating. Gases are chemisorbed at the surface and diffuse into the
interior. When a getter has been exposed to the atmosphere, for example, when initially
installed in a system, it must be activated by heating under vacuum to a high temperature,
600 to 800 °C. This permits adsorbed gases such as nitrogen and oxygen to diffuse into
the bulk. Hydrogen is evolved during reactivation; consequently reactivation is most
effective when hydrogen can be pumped away. In a sealed device, however, the hydrogen
is readsorbed on cooling.
A second type of getter, which has a porous structure with far higher accessible surface
area, effectively pumps reactive gases at temperatures as low as ambient. In many cases,
an integral heater is embedded in the getter.
Disadvantages:
1.) compared to Ti sublimation pumping, NEG pumping presents the risk of powder peel-
off (excessive heating or H2 embrittlement) and a lower pumping capacity.