PRACTICAL VACUUM TECHNOLOGY

CONCEPTS – TECHNIQUES – PROBLEMS

AND SOLUTIONS
 Different applications – common link

• Vacuum cleaner
• Incandescent lamp
• Preparation of high pure materials
• Cathode ray tube/TV picture tube
• Microelectronic devices fabrication
• Thermos flask
• Space simulation
• The answer is VACUUM

• So, what is vacuum

When a system is at a pressure less than the

atmospheric pressure, it is said to be in vacuum
Hence the word VACUUM is relative to the
atmospheric pressure
THERE IS NOTHING LIKE ABOSOLUTE
VACUUM (ZERO PRESSURE)
 Why is vacuum required
• To remove atmospheric constituents that could cause
physical/chemical reactions
(incandescent lamps and metallurgy)
• To achieve pressure difference
(mechanical holding and lifting)
• To decrease energy transfer
(thermal or electrical insulation)
• To remove dissolved gases or volatile liquid from a mixture
(degassing and freeze drying)
• To extend the distance of travel of particles
(cathode ray tube, vacuum coating)
• To provide clean surfaces
(surface analysis)
 Why is vacuum required

To move a particle in a (straight) line over a large distance

Why is a Vacuum Needed?
Atmosphere (High)Vacuum

Contamination
Clean surface
(usually water)

To provide a clean surface

 Units of pressure
• 1 atmosphere =
• 760 mm Hg = 760 torr
• 760,000 millitorr or
• microns
• 29.9213 in. Hg
• 14.6959 psi

• 1.01325 bar
• 1013.25 millibar
• 101,325 pascals (Pa)
• 407.189 in. H2O
• 33.9324 ft. H2O
 BAROMETER

Mercury: 13.58 times

heavier than water:
10,321 Column is 13.58 x shorter :
mm 10321 mm/13.58=760 mm
(= 760 Torr)
760 29,9
mm in

WATER MERCURY
 Pressure units

torr pa mbar
--------------------------------------------------
Torr 1 1.33x102 1.33
Pa 7.5x10-3 1 10-2
m bar 0.75 100 1
--------------------------------------------------
 in order to achieve a vacuum it is necessary to generate a
pressure in a vessel that is lower than the ambient pressure.
Due to the Earth‘s gravity, atmospheric pressure varies with
altitude in accordance with the barometric altitude formula:

where:
Atmospheric pressure at sea level p0 = 1,013 mbar
Earth acceleration g = 9.81 m / s2
Density of air at sea level at 0 °C ρ0 = 1.293 kg / m3.

Atmospheric pressure declines by one half every 5.548 km.

 --------------------------------------------------------
altitude (km) pressure (torr)
-------------------------------------------------------
sea level 760
7.5 500
15 100
35 1
75 10-3
150 10-5
300 10-7
-------------------------------------------------------
In the space the pressure will be less than 10-14 torr
 Terminology
• Adsorption
• Absorption
• Outgassing
• Vapor pressure
• Pumping speed
• Throughput
• Mean free path
• Dalton’s Law of partial pressures
If there are a number of gases in an environment, and
their partial pressures are p1, p2, p3 …..
then the total pressure exerted is given as
p = p1 + p2 + p3 ….
 Partial Pressures of Gases in Air at STP

Gas Symbol Volume Partial Pressure

Percent Torr

• Nitrogen N2 78 593
• Oxygen O2 21 159
• Argon Ar 0.93 7.1
• Carbon Dioxide CO2 0.03 0.25
• Neon Ne 0.0018 1.4 x 10-2
• Helium He 0.0005 4.0 x 10-3
• Krypton Kr 0.0001 8.7 x 10-4
• Hydrogen H2 0.00005 4.0 x 10-4
• Xenon Xe 0.0000087 6.6 x 10-5
• Water H 2O Variable 5-15
 --------------------------------------------------
pressure (torr) mol.density cm-3
--------------------------------------------------
760 1019
10-2 1014
10-6 1010
10-8 108
10-14 102
-------------------------------------------------
 Kinetic theory of gases
• A gas consists of tiny masses called molecules
• The molecules are in continuous random motion
• Volume of each molecule is negligibly small
compared to the volume of the container
• Forces between the molecules is negligible
• The molecules during motion collide among
themselves and with the walls of the container
• Collisions are elastic and are of negligible
duration
Gas molecules in a container
 Gas laws and gas equation
Boyles law PV is constant
Charles law P/T is constant

AVAGADRO number
Equal volumes of all gases contain equal
number of gas molecules at the same
temperature and pressure
 Gas equation

N = number of molecules
Nm = number of moles = N/NA
n = particle density = N/V
P = pressure
T = absolute temperature
kB = Boltzmann’s constant = 1.381 x 10-23 J/K
NA = Avogadro’s number = 6.022 x 1023
particles/mole
R = Gas constant = NAkB = 8.315 J mole-K

PV = NmRT
= NkBT
the rate of impingement of gas molecules is given by
 = 3.513 x 1022 P/ (MT)1/2 molecules/ cm2/sec

Time for monolayer formation

t = (2 x 10-6)/p seconds P in torr

-------------------------------------------
pressure t
-------------------------------------------
760 3x10-9
1 2x10-6
10-3 2x10-3
10-5 0.2
10-7 20
10-9 2x103
-------------------------------------------
 Mean free path
Shortest distance traveled by a molecule between two successive
collisions

mfp = (5x10-3/p) cm (p in torr)

-----------------------------------------------
Pressure mfp
-----------------------------------------------
760 6x10-6
1 5x10-3
10-3 5
10-4 50
10-9 5x106
-----------------------------------------------
• ADSORPTION: attachment of gas
molecules to the surface of a solid
• It can be physical or chemical
• Certain amount of energy is required to
remove these adsorbed gases
• ABSORPTION: diffusion of gases into the
solid
• OUTGASSING: removal of absorbed and adsorbed
gases from the material
• It can be done by supplying sufficient energy for the gas
molecules to come out of the surface
• It is measured in terms of outgassing constant k which is
the rate at which gas appears to emanate from unit area
of the surface. It is expressed in terms of torr.lit/sec/cm2

• Reasons for gas/vapor incorporation on surface

• A. cleaning solvents
• B. surface roughness
Outgassing constant for different materials

material k
-----------------------------------------------------------
ss 1.75
ms 5.00
ms (rusted) 44
Al 1.0
Al (anodised) 10
Cu 23
Brass 10
Polythene 200
Araldite 18
Silicone rubber 90
Viton rubber 10
Viton (baked 100 C for one hour) 1
Viton (baked 150 C for four hours) 0.1
 throughput

Throughput is the quantity of gas passing

through an open cross section of the
vacuum system at a specified temperature
in unit time
q = p (dv/dt)
= p s torr lit sec-1
where p is pressure, s is pumping speed
 Thermal conductivity
Thermal conductivity is the phenomena during which heat transfer
takes place due to molecular collision

k = (1/3) n m l cv cal/sec.cm.deg.105
where k is coeff.of thermal conductivity
n is molecular density
m is molecular mass
l is mean free path
cv is heat capacity of the gas

At high p, due to small l, k is independent of p

At low p, due to very high l, the inter molecular collisions are negligible
 Thermal conductivity data

Air 5.75
He 33.90
H2 40.20
Ar 3.89
N2 5.81
O2 5.82
CO2 3.86
 Vapor pressure
• Vapor is produced by evaporation of a liquid
• Some of the molecules near the surface have sufficient energy to escape
into the atmosphere
• If the liquid is in open, the vapor diffuses away from the liquid
• If it is in a closed vessel, the vapor will hit the walls and condense
• There will be a dynamic equilibrium between evaporation and condensation
• The vapor under this state is called saturated and the pressure it exerts on
the surface is called saturated vapor pressure or simply vapor pressrue
• The rate of evaporation decreases with temperature and hence vapor
pressure also decreases and vice versa

• water 13 torr
• mercury 10-3 torr
• ss 304 10-9 torr
Vapor pressure of gases
 Vapor pressure - temperature

10-5 10-4 10-3 10-1 1 mp

----------------------------------------------------------
Al 882 972 1082 1207 1547 650
Cu 942 1032 1142 1272 1622 1084
Zinc 208 246 290 343 485 420
Mg 287 330 382 442 612 650
-----------------------------------------------------------
VAPOR PRESSURE OF WATER
AT VARIOUS TEMPERATURES

T (O C) P (mbar)
100 (BOILING) 1013
25 32
0 (FREEZING) 6.4
-40 0.13
-78.5 (DRY ICE) 6.6 x 10 -4
-196 (LIQUID NITROGEN) 10 -24
 Pressure equation
Let a unit cube has n number of molecules moving with a velocity v

If m is the mass of each molecule, then due to motion it will have a

momentum mv

When the moving molecule hits the wall of the container, it is reflected with a
momentum –mv

Total change in momentum is 2 mv

If there are n molecules in unit cube, then nv/6 molecules cross unit area in
a unit time

Total change in momentum of these molecules is equal to pressure

In other words, p = (nv/6) 2mv

p = 1/3 (nmv2)
• The pressure equation tells us that in
order to reduce the pressure, we have to
reduce the number of gas molecules or
reduce their velocity.

• These two principles are used in the

creation of low pressures using a number
of pumps
 Gas flow mechanisms

• Gas flow in a closed system depends on

the pressure difference between two
points and also the dimensions of the
container. Based on these factors, the
gas flow can be classified as
• Turbulent flow
• Viscous flow
• Molecular flow
• Whenever there is a net directed movement of
gas in a system under the influence of attached
pumps, gas flow is said to occur. Under this
condition the gas experiences a pressure drop
and gas said to flow
• In an isolated sealed system, although the gas
molecules certainly move, and with high velocity,
there is no net gas flow with no pressure
gradients in the system
• The flow of gas depends on the geometry of the system,
pressure, temperature, etc.

• At low pressures, the mean free path is large compared

to the dimensions of the system – the collisions with the
walls of the container are dominant as compared to the
inter molecular collisions - here the flow is referred as
molecular flow regime
• At high pressures, due to short mean free path,
intermolecular collisions dominate relative to collisions
with the walls of the container – this is called viscous
flow regime
• At low gas velocities the flow is laminar
where layered parallel flow lines may be
imagined
• At the walls of a tube, the laminar flow
velocity is zero, but it increases to a
maximum at the axis.
• At higher velocity the flowing gas layers
are no longer parallel but swirl and the
flow is termed as turbulent
• Numerically one can designate the flow
mechanism using the mean free path and the
dimension of the pipe through which the gas
flows
• If D is pipe diameter and λ is mean free path, the
a number called Knudsen number is given as K
= D/ λ
Molecular flow K < 1
Intermediate flow 1 < K < 110
Viscous flow K > 110
• Gas flow mechanism in different regions of
vacuum system will not be same
Viscous and Molecular Flow

Viscous Flow Molecular Flow

(momentum transfer (molecules move
between molecules) independently)
 Viscous flow

• When the flow regime is viscous, the

conductance is influenced by the
dimensions of the pipe as well as the
pressure difference at both ends of the
pipe
• The conductance is given by

Cv = 184 D4 (Pav)/L where D is diameter of

the pipe and L is the length
 Molecular flow

• In the molecular flow regime, the flow is

governed by the dimensions of the pipe
alone and hence the conductance is given
by

Cm = 12.2 D3/L
• Similar to the effect of resistance in a
electrical power supply, where a voltage
drop across the resistor occurs, a
connecting pipe in a vacuum system
affects the pumping speed
• This is called conductance effect which is
governed by the gas flow mechanism
• In a vacuum system the components may be
arranged in parallel or in series (something
analogus to the electrical circuits)
• When the components are arranged in series,
the conductance will be given as
1/C = 1/C1 + 1/C2 …….etc
When the components are connected in parallel,
then the effective conductance will be
C = C1 + C2 …….
• In an electrical circuit, the resistors connected to
a power source will lead to a voltage drop.
Similarly, the components added in a vacuum
system result in the reduction of pumping speed.
• Thus if a chamber is connected to a pump
through a series of components, the effective
pumping speed (Seff) will always be less than the
actual pumping speed (Sm) of the pump
• The effective pumping speed can be
calculated as

Seff = Sm C/Sm + C

In order to have better pumping, the

chamber should NOT be connected to the
pump using long and narrow pipeline
 GAS LOAD

Permeation
Outgassing
Real
Leaks
Diffusion Virtual
Backstreaming

GAS LOAD (Q) IS EXPRESSED IN:

mbar liters per second
 Pumpdown Curve
10+1

10-1
Volume
Pressure (mbar)

10-3

10-5 Surface Desorption

10-7
Diffusion
10-9
Permeation

10-11 1
10 10 3 10 5 10 7 10 9 10 11 10 13 10 15 10 17
Time (sec)