Sensitivity vacuum gauges

The fact that the pressure reading at vacuum gauges (see Section 3.3) is sensitive to the type of gas involved can, to a certain extent, be utilized for leak detection purposes. Thus it is possible to brush or spray suspected leaks with alcohol. The alcohol vapors which flow into the device - the thermal conductivity and ionizablity of which will vary greatly from the same properties for air - will affect and change pressure indication to a greater or lesser extent. The availability of more precise, easy-to-use helium leak detectors has, however, rendered this method almost completely obsolete. 

Strain-gauge pressure transducers are manufactured in many forms for measuring gauge, absolute, and differential pressures and vacuum. Full-scale ranges from 25.4 mm of water to 10,134 MPa are available. Strain gauges bonded direc tly to a diaphragm pressure-sensitive element usually have an extremely fast response time and are suitable for high-frequency dynamic-pressure measurements. 

The quartz oscillator coating thickness gauge (thin film controller) utilizes the piezoelectric sensitivity of a quartz oscillator (monitor crystal) to the supplied mass. This property is utilized to monitor the coating rate and final thickness during vacuum coating. 

There are two principal types of ionisation gauge, viz. the hot cathode type in which electrons are emitted by a heated filament, and the cold cathode type in which electrons are released from the cathode by the impact of ions. In both cases the vacuum is measured in terms of the ion current. The electrons are accelerated by a potential difference (usually about 2000 V) across the ionisation tube (see Fig. 6.22). Positively charged ions are formed by the electrons striking gas molecules. The number of positive ions produced is a function of the gas density (i.e. the pressure) and the electron current ie which is normally held constant. The ions are collected at a negatively charged electrode and the resulting ion current it is a direct measure of the gas pressure. The hot cathode version is the most sensitive of the two and can be used to measure vacua down to about 10 10 torr ( 10 8 N/m2). 

Gauges which are sensitive in this range are primarily used to determine ultimate vacuum on a system and to hunt leaks. This pressure range is measurable by a variety of gauge types ranging from the manually operated mercury-filled McLeod gauge to various electronic gauges. 

Second only to the mechanical gauge as the easiest device to measure and read a vacuum (and decidedly easiest in construction) is the liquid manometer (see Fig. 7.37). A well-made mercury manometer, kept very clean, can measure vacuums of up to 10 3 torr. This sensitivity can be increased by up to 15 times if a liquid with less density, such as diffusion pump oil, is used. However, diffusion pump oil is far more difficult to keep clean and can require either (a) a very tall (and thereby impractical) column or (b) a manometer of very limited range. In addition, because of the strong surface tension between diffusion pump oil and glass, long waiting periods between readings are required as the oil settles into place. 

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