| AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Vacuum Technology Division | Thursday Sessions |
| Session VT-ThA |
| Session: | Surface Science for Accelerators |
| Presenter: | Mauro Audi, Agilent Technologies, Italy |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Since their invention in 1957 at Varian Associates as a pumping device for electron tubes at relatively high pressures , Ion Pumps have continuously moved towards lower pressures , and nowadays they are the pumps of choice for most of UHV applications in both research and industrial field
This includes a large a variety of high and ultra high vacuum systems , from Particle Accelerators to Synchrotron Light Sources and Gravitational Wave Detectors , from Scanning Electron Microscope to Surface Analysis and Medical Equipment
Application requirements have changed dramatically in these 60 years in terms of starting and operating pressures , pumping performances , ability of pressure reading , cleanliness , particle emissions , safety , resistance to radiation .
The latest developments on Ion Pump Technology are presented , including :
- a new combination of magnetic field and cell dimensions to realize the first ion pump with the maximum pumping speed in the low pressure range
- a new vacuum firing process to minimize the outgassing and reduce particles
- an anode design that minimizes the field emission and the leakage current , and additional shields that minimize charged particle emissions
-a controller design that allows starting Ion Pumps with a very limited power and can vary voltage supplied to the ion pump in order to optimize both the pumping performances and the pressure reading ,
- a combination of ion pumps with NEG pumps in order to reach the lowest ultimate pressure