Experimental data collection system for reading pressure levels in a vacuum environment

Abstract

The University of Oradea is working on developing a research base in material sciences with capabilities of vacuum deposition. The laboratory will be equipped with two deposition system along with with other research equipment, mainly an atomic force microscope and a Nano indenter for material characterization. This paper presents the continuity of our efforts to install two vacuum deposition systems that will be part of the SMARTMAT Laboratory at the University of Oradea. As steps were made in cleaning the equipment, we now focus on obtaining high vacuum. In this process, a constant monitoring solution of the pressure inside the chamber is required, and the steps taken to realize it are presented in this paper. The main focus of the paper is the data acquisition system implemented for monitoring several parameters of which vacuum is the most important. The system will be based on two Pfeiffer Gauges for vacuum and a National Instruments PXI system.