Vacuum technology

A vacuum vessel or chamber is normally required to create a suitable environment for a CVD process to take place. The quality and the controllability of such a vacuum environment are critical to a CVD process. The technologies associated with vacuum generation and maintenance is therefore important and is described in this section. 

Vacuum systems are integral parts of any mass spectrometer, but vacuum technology definitely is a field of its own. [251-255] Thus, the discussion of mass spectrometer vacuum systems will be restricted to the very basics. 

Pressure Range [Pa] Pressure Range [mbar] Pressure Range [mtorr] Vacuum Gas Flow 

10 - 10 1 bar - 1 mbar 750 torr -750 mtorr rough vacuum (RV) viscous flow 

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O Hanlon J F 1989 A User s Guide to Vacuum Technology 2nd edn (New York Wiley)... 

The cmsts from the Parkes process are then treated to recover the 2inc contained in the dross for reuse in desi1veri2ing This is done by distillation (qv) and more commonly by vacuum technology. A continuous adaptation of the Parkes process is carried out at The Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty. (Port Pide, AustraUa). The chemistry of this operation is the same as that for batch desi1veri2ing (22,23). 

A. Berman, Total Pressure Measurements in Vacuum Technology, Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, Fla., 1985, pp. 140—146. 

Vitreous silica is used for gas-heated or electrically heated devices ia various shapes, eg, as a tube or muffle because of its electrical resistivity, impermeabihty, and low expansion. In its simplest form, an electric-resistance furnace consists of a vitreous siUca tube or pipe on which the resistance element is wound (see Furnaces, ELECTRIC). Because of its iadifference to temperature gradients, a tubular furnace of vitreous siUca maybe made to operate at different temperatures at various portions of the tube, either by arrangement of the heating elements or by cooling sections of the tube with water. Vitreous siUca pipes may be employed ia vacuum-iaduction and gas-fired furnaces (see Vacuum technology) (221). 

The prevacuum technique, as its name implies, eliminates air by creating a vacuum. This procedure faciUtates steam penetration and permits more rapid steam penetration. Consequendy this results in shorter cycle times. Prevacuum cycles employ either a vacuum pump/steam (or air) ejector combination to reduce air residuals in the chamber or rely on the pulse-vacuum technique of alternating steam injection and evacuation until the air residuals have been removed. Pulse-vacuum techniques are generally more economical vacuum pumps or vacuum-pump—condenser combinations may be employed. The vacuum pumps used in these systems are water-seal or water-ring types, because of the problems created by mixing oil and steam. Prevacuum cycles are used for fabric loads and wrapped or unwrapped instmments (see Vacuum technology). 

J. E. O Hanlon, M User s Guide to Vacuum Technology, Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1980. 

The largest use for barium is as a getter to remove the last traces of gases from vacuum and television picture tubes. It is ideal for this use because of its combination of high chemical reactivity and low vapor pressure (28—32). In some cases it is used as powder obtained by vaporization ia an electric arc (33). It can also be used as an aluminum ahoy (see Vacuum technology). 

Vacuum Tubes. In the manufacture of vacuum tubes for use in polarized ion sources, vaporized cesium is used as a getter for residual gaseous impurities in the tube and as a coating to reduce the work function of the tungsten filaments or cathodes of the tube. The cesium vapor is generated by firing, at about 850°C within the sealed and evacuated tube, a cesium chromate pellet and zirconium (12) (see Vacuum technology). 

Molecular distillation occurs where the vapor path is unobstmcted and the condenser is separated from the evaporator by a distance less than the mean-free path of the evaporating molecules (86). This specialized branch of distillation is carried out at extremely low pressures ranging from 13—130 mPa (0.1—1.0 p.m Hg) (see Vacuum technology). Molecular distillation is confined to appHcations where it is necessary to minimize component degradation by distilling at the lowest possible temperatures. Commercial usage includes the distillation of vitamins (qv) and fatty acid dimers (see Dimeracids). 

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