VACUUM SCIENCE BLOG

This blog is based on the article in Applied Science and Convergence Technology 26 (5): 95-109 (2017) R Grinham and A Chew.

There are several contributions to the gas load of a system. At pressures below ~0.1 mbar, the most dominant is often ‘outgassing’. Outgassing is the result of desorption of previously adsorbed molecules, bulk diffusion, permeation and vapourisation. Adsorption occurs via two main processes, physisorption and chemisorption, and can be described using five (or six) classifying isotherms. 

Measuring vacuum pressure is a fundamental element of all vacuum applications, but there’s no such thing as a universal vacuum gauge.

When it comes to measuring vacuum pressure, no single gauge will respond accurately throughout the entire vacuum range (from atmospheric pressure to 10^-12 mbar). That’s why a clear understanding of the differences between the types of gauges is essential to match them to the right operational contexts. 

Space technology and research would be nowhere without vacuum technology. But, with such complex work, it’s easy to lose sight of where (and how and why) vacuum plays such an important role. So we’ve published a new eBook that unpacks the most common applications of vacuum technology in space — with details on how it supports space flights, space simulation and vacuum testing and fundamental space research.

Vacuum Coating — also called ‘Thin Film Technology’; or Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) — represents an impressive share among the various applications of vacuum technology. In this blog post, we share an overview of the historical development, the various basic principles underpinning the generating of thin films, and the general layout of coating devices.

2020 marks the centenary of the development of the Holweck pump by the French physicist Fernand Holweck. As well as a stand-alone pump the Holweck design is used as a compound pumping stage in the widely employed TURBOVAC, nEXT and STP pumps. In this respect the Holweck design has been utilised to make significant advancements and improvements to the development of turbomolecular pumps over the last half century.

The JVC-18 is a well established meeting organised at two-year periods by the Austrian, Croatian, Czech, Hungarian, Slovak and Slovenian national vacuum societies. The International Conference on Thin Films is a tri-annual conference series endorsed and co-organised by the Thin Film Division of the International Union for Vacuum Science, Technique and Applications (IUVSTA). These events are scheduled from November 22 to 26, 2020 by the Hungarian Vacuum Society (HVS).

What is mass spectrometry?

Mass spectrometry – an analytical technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of ions and, in forensic science, one of the best ways for toxicologists to identify and analyse substances.

In the forensic community, it’s heralded as the “gold standard” and the “near universal test” for isolating and assessing unknown agents. As a result, its widest application is in the analysis of drugs (including drug metabolites and drug paraphernalia).

Registration for Space Tech Expo Connect is now Open

The much-anticipated virtual version of the premier trade show for the aerospace industry has launched this week. A highly interactive digital event experience; Space Tech Expo Connect will take place August 10 – 13.

As applications using vacuum technologies evolve and become ever more precise, the vacuum systems and pumps used have even less margin for error than ever before. In every operation that uses vacuum – particularly where incredibly precise instruments are involved (R&D, mass spectrometry) – the preservation of the vacuum is of the utmost importance.

The reality is that unforeseen problems in a vacuum can be catastrophic for the process, the environment and the operator, and one which can prove tricky is a vacuum leak.

The American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) is the largest society in the world of Mass Spectrometry and its applications. Its Annual Conference is held at varying locations in the USA and Canada with around 6,500 participants, some 3,000 posters and 400 oral presentations alongside a large vendor exhibition. This year's conference was planned in Houston, Texas for May 31 - June 4 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the conference was shifted from a face-to-face event into an online format.