Abstract
The number of applications where low ultimate pressure and clean residual environment are required is greatly increasing. Sputter-ion pumps are widely used in such applications, where all species of gases (mainly getterable gases) have to be pumped. Nonevaporable getters, especially the recently developed low-temperature activatable alloy of the Zr–V–Fe type, have gained interest for pumping getterable gases (especially hydrogen) also in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) environment. An integration of these two pumping means has been studied. A new combined pump results having a simple structure with a suitably shaped getter coated strip incorporated in the body of the ion pump, without changes in geometry or increase of dimensions. The necessary activation and regeneration of the getter are made during bakeout of the ion pump, performed at 300–350 °C for some hours. Performance obtained by this new UHV combination pump are reported and discussed. At low pressures and after regenerative bakeout, this combination pump almost doubles the pumping speed of the ion pump for getterable gases. Very low and clean residual pressures (10−12 mbar region) are reached with a more constant pumping speed.
Published Version
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