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To cite this article: J H Singleton 1973 J. Phys. E: Sci. Instrum. 6 685 Compressible-Fluid Dynamics for
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REV1EW A RTICLE

The performance characteristics of modern vacuum

J H Singleton conditions are usually rapidly re-established following such

Westinghouse Research Laboratories, Pittsburgh, interruptions. The pumps contain no organic fluids and
Pennsylvania 15235, USA thus avoid one major source of contamination. The construc-
tion techniques of ultrahigh vacuum are employed and the
Abstract The performance characteristics of modern entire pump is bakeable, usually to at least 400'C, facilitating
vacuum pumps are critically discussed, providing criteria the removal of volatile impurities. A source of electricity is
which are useful in the selection of pumps for particular the only external requirement for most pumps, and for
applications. The review includes pumps of the following sustained operation at pressures below 0.1 pTorr the power
types : sputter-ion, electrostatic-ion, sublimation, getter, requirement is typically low enough to permit the use of a
turbomolecular and diffusion. The application of roughing portable power supply. Finally, when ionization is used as a
pumps for each of these groups is also discussed. pumping mechanism, the ion current provides an indication
of total pressure to the order of 10 nTorr. These advantages
are not obtained without some limitations which will be
indicated below, in the dicussion of individual types of pumps.
1 Introduction
The extensive development in vacuum technology in the last 2.1 Sputter-ion pumps
20 years has resulted as much from the necessity of controlling Sputter-ion pumps provide a magnetically confined electron
impurity levels in the gaseous environment as from the desire discharge in which gas is ionized. The ions strike metal
to achieve low pressures. The work was greatly accelerated cathodes, typically titanium or tantalum, causing sputtering
by the introduction of the Bayard-Alpert ionization gauge at a rate roughly proportional to pressure. Reactive gases,
(Bayard and Alpert 1950) and it was soon shown that standard such as nitrogen and carbon monoxide, are pumped by
diffusion pumps and fluids were capable of achieving very adsorption on this sputtered metal (Rutherford et al. 1961).
low pressures (Alpert 1958). However, such pressures were The pumping speeds for noble gases are much smaller since
only achieved by system designs which allowed high tempera- they are not adsorbed but are reflected from the cathodes as
ture processing in order to obtain low outgassing rates. It is high energy neutrals, which are then trapped by burial in the
still true that residual impurities depend more on the vacuum sputtered metal (Jepsen 1968, Vaumoron and De Biasio
system than on the pumps and the most effective way of 1970). Although the primary ions can be trapped by burial,
reducing them is by elimination at the source rather than by most cannot diffuse away from the point of impact, and the
using larger pumps. Detailed discussion of the sources of cathodes become saturated. For example, in the diode pump
impurities are provided by Alpert (1958), Santeler et al. (1966), the number of ions striking the cathode at steady-state will
Redhead et al. (1968) and Bills (1969). The calculation of equal the number of previously pumped ions which are
conductance and of rates of exhaust is described by Dushman released by sputtering; to a first approximation this condition
(1969) and Santeler et al. (1966). is reached in new cathodes after pumping for about 100 h
This review will attempt critically to survey performance at a pressure of 0.1 pTorr. It is this sputtering which is
characteristics of modern vacuum pumps to provide the responsible for memory effects in sputter-ion pumps; it is
criteria which are useful in the selection of pumps for parti- most severe in the simple diode geometry and of smaller
cular applications. It is intended only as a supplement to importance in the triode (Power 1966) and in the magnetron
more extensive discussion such as Power (1966) and Santeler geometry (Andrew et al. 1968). Hydrogen is unique in that it
et al. (1966); in general, reference is made to review articles diffuses rapidly in titanium or tantalum even at room tempera-
and books rather than to the original source. tures and is also too light to cause effective sputtering; in
pure hydrogen essentially all the gas is pumped into the
2 Ion and getter pumps cathodes (Rutherford and Jepsen 1961, Singleton 1971).
The devices included in the classification of ion and getter The original diode pumps used titanium cathodes; the
pumps pump gases either by physical entrapment or by substitution of one or both cathodes by tantalum gives a
chemical interaction, the products being retained within the marked increase in argon pumping speed (see table 1) and
pump rather than ejected from the system. The widespread stability (Tom and James 1969) by increasing the yield of
application of these devices is probably a consequence of the high energy neutrals (Jepsen 1968). Some commercial pumps
increasing demand for clean, fail-safe systems. Because such use other combination-metal cathodes to enhance pumping
pumps are operated in a sealed system, venting to atmosphere mechanisms; two groups are discussed by Tom (1972a) and
does not occur in the event of a power failure and operating by Hall (1969). Tom reports that a magnesium cathode yields

685
J H Singleton

Table 1 Relative pumping speeds of typical commercial ionic and sublimation pumps

Type Diode Triode Magnetrond Orbitron Sublimationf

r------h--- typee
Cathode Ti" Ti/Tab TiC Ti Ti

Air 100 100 100 - -

Nz 100 95 100 100 100 100
0 2 57 70 57 94 67
CO 100 100 100 100 200
CO2 100 100 100 81 170
He 250 160-200 270 300 100
He IO 25-35 30 0.2 0
Ar 1 20-28 21 12-20 1.5 0
Light hydrocarbons 90-1 60 90-180 90-1 60 0

(a) Varian, Ultek and Veeco specifications: also applies to TijW cathodes (Veeco)
(b) Ultek: also applies to TiIMg cathodes (Veeco)
(c) Varian: also applies to TiiInconel cathodes (Veeco)
(d) Mullard
(e) Granville-Phillips : sublimation pumping is conductance limited
(f) Ti at 25°C: Veeco: Ultek

approximately 50 % higher speeds than other tested combina- maintaining pumping speeds of most gases to lower pressures
tions, and that vapour from the cathode sustains the discharge (ii) Hydrogen is the limiting residual gas in many sputter-ion
at lower pressures; no data are given to substantiate this claim. pumped systems. The pumping speed for this gas decreases
The inclusion of a material such as magnesium, which has a to a few per cent of the nominal value at pressures as high as
vapour pressure of 1 mTorr at 382°C (Dushman 1969), would 10 nTorr, the limit depending upon the gas composition. This
be expected to preclude normal high temperature bakeout, is not a consequence of saturation of the cathodes by hydrogen;
and the data reported are unconvincing on this point. Modifi- processing by baking or by cathode sputtering at high argon
cations to the diode geometry, including slotted cathodes pressures, whilst using supplementary gettering to remove the
(Jepsen et al. 1961) and the post-pump (Lamont 1969) also hydrogen, is of little value. In some systems this limiting
give enhanced speeds for argon, the former with a substantial hydrogen pressure can be significantly reduced by deliberate
decrease in cathode life. introduction of a small influx of a gas such as argon which is
2.1.1 Opevatiizgpvessuves Although pumps may be started at effectively pumped; the resultant cathode sputtering permits
pressures of about IO mTorr an unconfined glow discharge increased hydrogen uptake, both by diffusion in the cathodes
occurs, giving little effective pumping and considerable wall and by adsorption on the sputtered material, and a decrease
degassing. Such degassing may be beneficial if the pump has in the total pressure results.
been exposed to the atmosphere for some time, but unless a The quoted speed of a pump for specific gases is obtained
large capacity roughing system is used, start-up can extend by measurement in the steady-state condition at a relatively
over many hours. It is therefore preferable to start the pump high pressure. Because of the complex processes involved, the
at pressures below 1 mTorr so that the time necessary for the speed for each gas is not independent of the presence of other
pump to reach to the confined mode, at about 0.1 mTorr, is gases and this causes selective pumping effects. For example, the
minimized. pumping speed of argon (Andrew et al. 1968) and of hydrogen
In start-up, and in sustained operation at pressures above (Singleton 1971) can vary by a factor of two or three when
10 pTorr, cathode temperatures as high as 900°C have been pumped simultaneously with varying pressures of nitrogen.
reported (Jepsen 1967, Snouse 1971). The titanium hydride, In addition to this selectivity, the pumping speed for a specific
which is always present in the cathodes after pumping hydrogen gas can change with time, and variations ranging from a few
or water, readily dissociates giving an equilibrium hydrogen per cent to factors of three or four have been reported (Bance
pressure of 0.1 mTorr at 200°C and of 1 Torr at 400°C and Craig 1962, Dallos and Steinrisser 1967, Dallos 1969,
(Singleton 1971); this factor contributes to the slow start-up Danielson 1968, Brothers 1968). Provided that the initial
of pumps and can cause a runaway condition in pumps used pumping speed is high enough to allow for such a decline,
to evacuate hydrogen. Sustained operation above 1 pTorr is this factor should not seriously affect most applications.
not recommended because of short cathode life and also In comparison to the changes in speed under sustained
because sputtered films cause electrical leakage in many load conditions, the transient variations are of greater
older pumps which use inadequate sputter shields on the importance. The effective pumping speed often declines to a
insulators. negligible value if the influx of gas into the system is suddenly
The lower limit of pump operation is not so clearly defined, decreased (Milleron and Reinath 1962). The speed recovers
but two factors are important. as the rate of release of gas, buried in the cathodes, reaches
(i) Rutherford (1963) demonstrated that in typical pumps equilibrium with the reduced rate of ion bombardment. At
the discharge intensity decreased rapidly at low pressures, pressures below 1 nTorr equilibrium speeds may not be
reaching 50% at a pressure of the order of 6 nTorr. Pumps achieved for many hours. An isolation valve should be used
using larger anode cells (4-1 in) are now commonly used, if a system is frequently vented to atmopshere, so that the
and in such pumps the discharge intensity only decreases pump can be run continuously; this procedure greatly
to 50% at pressures below 10 pTorr. This is effective in shortens the time taken to achieve the ultimate pressure.

686
The performance characteristics of modern ljacuum pumps
The complexity of the pumping mechanisms make it The absence of a magnetic field is an advantage in many
impossible to assign well defined speeds to all gas species. applications and also simplifies pump construction and
Table 1 gives typical ratings for a number of commercial reduces weight, size and cost.
pumps. Strongly chemisorbed gases, such as nitrogen, carbon The ionizing current is independent of pressure so that
monoxide and oxygen, give few problems because they form pumping speed is sustained at low pressures. The electron
extremely stable compounds with titanium and tantalum. collector is titanium and serves as a sublimator at a rate
Sustained hydrogen pumping can cause severe warping of controlled by the electron current. The evaporated titanium
the cathodes and this gas is readily released at elevated is condensed on the wall of the pump which is also the cathode
temperatures ; therefore, hydrogen pumping at high pressures at which ions are collected. Ionic pumping is responsible for
can be very unsatisfactory even if the cathodes are reinforced only a few per cent of the total nominal pumping speed,
or water cooled. chemisorption on the sublimated titanium providing the rest.
The noble gases are not as efficiently pumped as are reactive This results in fast, effective pumping of adsorbable gases,
gases, and for these gases the triode pumps give more satis- such as nitrogen, and in much slower pumping of nonchemi-
factory results than do diode pumps. Organic materials are sorbing species including the noble gases, methane and other
readily pumped in moderate amounts, but must first be organics (table 1). However, because the flux of titanium to
dissociated by electron bombardment (Rutherford et al. the cathode is large compared with that of ions, instabilities
1961, Kelly and Vanderslice 1961). in pumping the noble gases and memory effects, both of
2.1.2 Impurities in sputter-ion pumped systems Sputter-ion which result from sputtering, are very small. The pumping
pumps provide a great measure of protection against cata- of hydrogen on the sublimated titanium remains very effective
strophic failure, but do exhibit backstreaming of gases which at pressures below 10 nTorr, providing a substantial advantage
have been previously pumped. The effect is significantly less over the sputter-ion pump. The ion current provides a useful
in the triode than in a simple diode pump. The data of Bance measure of pressure, as in the sputter-ion pump.
and Craig (1962) give an indication of the magnitude of the The supply of titanium is relatively small, and for sustained
problem, but as a general rule a pump will always backstream operation the sublimation rate is usually manually adjusted
trace amounts of any gas which has previously been pumped to the lowest level that will maintain the required pumping
in large quantity. Consequently, in low pressure applications speed. In a typical pump the sublimator life is a few hundred
or when impurities must be limited, it is advisable to be hours at the maximum operating pressure (100-10 pTorr) or
aware of the previous history of a pump. thousands of hours at pressures below 0.1 pTorr. The titanium
Actual generation of impurities is not a serious problem; must be relatively free from gas if an initial rapid start-up is
attempts to confirm the generation of methane (Lichtmann desired, and methane generation can occur at high tempera-
1964) in a number of pumps showed that the accumulation tures if the carbon content is high (Holland et al. 1962).
when these pumps were turned off was a consequence of The rate of sublimation can be controlled by the injected
negligible residual pumping of methane, in contrast to the electron current but this simultaneously changes the rate of
significant residual pumping of gases such as carbon monoxide ionization in the orbitron pump. The separation of the
and hydrogen. sublimation function from that of ionization permits a
2.1.3 Pressure measurement The current in an ion pump is a number of improvements in both operation and performance,
useful indication of pressure, with acceptable accuracy with some increase in complexity. Bills (1967) and Denison
(k 25 %) from 10 pTorr to 10 nTorr. The presence of spurious (1967) have described such a pump in which a directly heated
currents can give erroneous results particularly after consider- sublimator (Warren et al. 1967) is used in conjunction with a
able use. Several techniques can be used to detect such errors group of four electrostatic ionization units, and its perform-
(Wear 1967, Tom 1972b) but all involve severe disruption of ance characteristics have been compared with those of a
system operation. sputter-ion pump (Bills 1973).
2.1.4 Operating life The useful life is usually cited as the In order to facilitate rapid starting, these pumps should be
order of 50 000 h at 1 pTorr for diode pumps and half that roughed to pressures lower than those used for sputter-ion
figure for triodes. A number of factors, including growth of pumps. This requirement is a limitation imposed by the
whiskers or flaking, may terminate life long before the cathodes sublimation mechanism and is common to all sublimation
are sputtered through (Wear 1967). In some cases satisfactory pumps. Titanium interacts with reactive gases to form oxide,
operation may be obtained by treatment in situ but frequently nitride and carbide surface films which very effectively inhibit
chemical cleaning or complete disassembly is necessary sublimation. The films are stable and do not evaporate even
(Power 1966, Wear 1967). at sublimation temperature. At temperatures above about
2.1.5 Peripheral effects of sputter-ion pumps Stray magnetic 700°C the surface films diffuse into the titanium at a rate
fields from the magnet required by sputter-ion pumps cause which increases with temperature, but if the pressure of
interference with some experimental arrangements so that reactive gases is sufficiently high the surface film is continu-
shielding is necessary. Further, pump operation provides an ously renewed. In this case there is no significant sublimaticjn,
intense source of both neutral and charged particles and of and gettering occurs only at the sublimator surface at a
radiation (Goff 1968, Bance and Craig 1962) which are speed which is limited by the diffusion rate and by the small
troublesome, particularly if low current measurements are area. At low pressures sublimation is not significantly inhibited
involved. Goff (1968) describes a combination of both electro- by surface films, and the larger area of sublimated titanium
static and optically dense shields which reduced these becomes the dominant gettering surface. For the most efficient
effects while simultaneously reducing the effective pumping operation it is essential rapidly to effect the transfer of the
speed. major pumping from the sublimator surface to the walls;
this is facilitated by starting at lower pressures. As with
2.2 Orbitron ion pumps sputter-ion pumps, if a system is frequently cycled to atmo-
In the orbitron pump (Power 1966) the physical and chemical sphere it is good practice to isolate the pump under vacuum;
processes which produce pumping are closely similar to those on reopening to the system, the clean titanium film provides
of the sputter-ion pump but the ionizing electrons are generated reserve pumping capacity to take up the initial high influx of
by hot cathodes and confined by a radial electrostatic field. gas.

4* 687
J H Singleton
2.3 Sublimation p i m p s pumps and the periodic temperature cycling of the sublimator
Although gettering on sputtered or evaporated titanium is produces pressure excursions, but these problems are relatively
an integral mechanism in ion pumps, the use of a separate unimportant in low pressure operation.
sublimation pump adds considerable flexibility in the design
of pumping systems. It is of particular value if large loads of 2.4 Bulk getters
reactive gases are present but must be used in conjunction The pumping mechanism in a sublimation pump is primarily
with a means of pumping nonadsorbable species, in particular adsorption on an extended surface of a reactive metal;
methane and the noble gases. When the sublimation process diffusion into the interior occurs, but contributes only a
is directly integrated with a sputter-ion pump (Hall 1969) or small part of the overall pumping speed. In the bulk getter
an electrostatic ion pump (Bills 1967) cooperative phenomena the speed is determined by the rate of diffusion of the adsorbed
can provide additional advantages. gas into the interior, and the getter is usually operated at an
Titanium is most commonly used in sublimation pumps elevated temperature. This pumping technique has the same
but other materials are at least as efficient (Milleron and capability of handling reactive gas as does the sublimation
Popp 1958, Jackson and Haas 1967). Very high speeds are pump. It provides much less pumping speed for a given
possible with reactive gases since the probability of adsorption physical size, but is easier to control and makes more econo-
of a substantially clean titanium surface is approximately mical use of the available getter material; the getter is always
0.2 at 25"C, giving a pumping speed of 2-3 1 s-1 cm-1. The at temperature, but is only consumed when a gas load is
relative pumping speeds for important gases are given in present. In comparison with a sputter-ion pump, the bulk
table 1. getter gives higher speeds for reactive gases for a given
2.3.1 Operating pressures At high pressures the sublimation physical size, but is not effective for noble gases or methane.
rate must be increased to supply fresh titanium, and at A zirconium-aluminium getter for general vacuum use has
pressures above about 10 pTorr, the pumping speed is usually been developed by della Porta and his co-workers (della
limited by the rate of sublimation. At 10 pTorr, a speed of Porta et al. 1961, Kindl 1963, Kindl and Rabusin 1967).
200 1 s-1 requires the evaporation of 0.1 g of titanium per This getter is initially activated by heating to about 800°C
hour. The sublimator duty cycle is typically varied from 100% at a pressure below 10 mTorr in order to diffuse the adsorbed
at 10 pTorr to 1% at about 1 nTorr; clearly sublimation surface layer into the interior. The getter is then maintained
pumps perform best at low pressures, providing very high at a fixed temperature of 400°C, where it provides pumping
speeds and adequate capacity while only requiring a brief speeds of the order of 0.1 1s-l for nitrogen, 0.51s-1 for
evaporation cycle every few hours. carbon monoxide and 1 1 5-1 for hydrogen for each 1 cm2
The high pressure operating limit is set mainly by the supply of getter area; the gettering capacity is at least 20 mTorr 1 cm-2.
of titanium. If sustained operation is required above 1 pTorr, The pumping of hydrogen is especially interesting since
the sublimation pump is relatively inconvenient in many speeds of 1 1 s-1 cm-2 can be sustained even with the getter
applications and the inhibition of sublimation at such pres- at room temperatures. At this temperature the gettering of
sures, which was discussed above, can also be a limiting factor other gases is quickly saturated, so that the getter can selec-
(Kuznetsov et al. 1969). If large amounts of titanium are tively remove hydrogen or its isotopes from mixtures with
used, higher rates of deposition may lead to poor adhesion other gases. Combining a sputter-ion pump with a getter
and flaking. Denison (1967) found that heating the substrate pump operating at room temperature is a convenient tech-
to about 300°C after each cycle to atmospheric pressure nique for substantially improving the overall pumping
resulted in good adherence for deposits up to about 40 performance for pressures below 10 nTorr.
mg cm-2.
The low pressure limit for a titanium sublimation pump is 3 Turbomolecular pumps
set by the dissociation of the hydride, but even at room The basic principle of turbomolecular pumps is the transfer
temperatures this is of the order of 1 pTorr and lower pressures of momentum to gas molecules by a rapidly moving solid
can readily be achieved by slight cooling. Cooling to - 195°C surface (Power 1966). Pumps are at present available with
provides an additional advantage by increasing the speed for speeds up to about 9000 1 s-1 and operating pressures from
all gases by at least a factor of two, but since most sublimation about 10 "Torr to below 10 nTorr.
pumps are limited by the conductance to the rest of the system, Two general types of pumps are produced. The vertical
this normally provides little advantage. axis pumps use a single set of blades and a motor mounted
The sublimation source may be heated by a number of directly on the rotor shaft in the vacuum enclosure (Mirgel
techniques. The simplest is direct evaporation from a filament; 1972, Garnier et al. 1962). The horizontal axis pumps use an
however this is best limited to short term or very low pressure external motor and two sets of rotor blades with the low
operation because a typical filament can only evaporate the pressure inlet between them (Becker 1966, Henning 1971,
order of 1 g of titanium. Although a simple twisted assembly Oesterstrom and Shapiro 1972).
of titanium and tungsten wires may be used, uniform rates of Turbomolecular pumps operate at rotor speeds of 12 000-
evaporation can be sustained for much longer periods from 42 000 rev min-1, and adequate lubrication and cooling?
an alloy of 85 % Ti-15 % MO (Lawson and Woodward 1967). ensures bearing life well in excess of 1 year. The bearings are
Larger quantities of titanium may be obtained by indirect located in the high pressure end of the compressor, so that the
heating techniques. For example, a hollow sphere having a lubrication oil does not reach the low pressure side during
capacity of about 40 g which is radiantly heated by a tungsten operation. The motion of the rotor is a source of high-fre-
filament is described by Hara and Snouse (1972), whilst a quency noise, particularly in models with external drive, and
fairly complex, resistance heated unit of comparable capacity careful balancing and mounting is essential in order to
is described by Warren et al. (1967). Electron bombardment minimize vibration problems.
heating is used for very large capacities (Robertson 1968, The main advantages of the turbomolecular pump are:
Smith 1971) and is particularly useful for sustained high (i) it is a mechanical device, relatively immune from operator
pressure applications.
The generation of methane at the heated titanium (Holland t Refrigeration units were included on early models, but
et al. 1962) is a possible impurity source in sublimation water cooling is now commonly used.

688
The performance characteristics of modern Dacuum pumps
error, which requires no traps or baffles to produce a vacuum or similar impurity into the body of the pump, the decon-
substantially free from organics ; tamination procedure is inefficient and several days’ operation
(ii) the pumping speed is relatively independent of molecular at the low baking temperature are often required to again
weight so that selective pumping effects are small, and the reach the ultimate pressure.
speed is constant in the molecular flow region;
(iii) at pressures above about 1 mTorr the throughput (i.e. 4 Diffusion pumps and traps
mass flow) is almost constant and is dependent on the size Because diffusion pumps have been extensively used for many
of the mechanical fore pump; in this region pumping-speed years their problems are far more widely appreciated than
instabilities and oil backstreaming are negligible, in contrast those of the newer techniques, and perhaps for this reason
to the characteristics of a diffusion pump. there is a tendency to underrate their capabilities. The theory
and operation of these pumps is extensively discussed by
3.1 Operating pressures Dushman (1969) and Power (1966). The emphasis here is on
The maximum continuous operating pressure of turbo- simply summarizing the properties which should be considered
molecular pumps is of the order of 1OmTorr. The ultimate in practical applications.
pressure for a specific gas depends upon the compression
ratio, which changes rapidly with atomic weight, but this is 4.1 Operating pressures
of practical consequence only for hydrogen and helium. The upper limit of operation of a diffusion pump is of the
Table 2 shows data for a group of pumps. Henning (1971) order of 1 mTorr. The lower limit is determined by the vapour
pressure of the pumping fluid and of its degradation products
Table 2 Compression ratios of turbomolecular pumps and generated in the pump. Using fluids of very low vapour
the calculated ultimate hydrogen pressure for a hydrogen pressure of the silicon or polyphenyl-ether type, pressures
partial pressure of 1 pTorr in the foreline in the 1 nTorr region can be achieved using only ambient
temperature baffles (Power 1966), whilst special traps combin-
ing cryogenic trapping and titanium sublimation permit
Source Pumping Compression Ultimate pressures in the 10 fTorr region (Santeler 1971).
speed ratio Hz
(air/Nz) (-*--, pressure 4.2 Impurities in diffusion pumped systems
(1 s-1) NZ Hz (nTorr) The impurities in a system originate from both the mechanical
and the diffusion pump. Backstreaming from the mechanical
Becker 1966 140 lo9 750 1.3 pump has been discussed in detail by Holland (1971), Santeler
Mirgel 1972 370 106 100 10 (1971) and Power (1966). This can be a major source of
Garnier et al. 1962 650 1010 70 14 contamination, particularly during the roughing cycle, but
Oesterstrom and can be greatly reduced by procedures outlined by the above
Shapiro 1972 1600 106 50 20 authors. In summary, these are as follows.
(i) A mechanical pump should only be used to rough to about
has presented data showing that the ultimate hydrogen 0.1 Torr before switching to the diffusion pump. At pressures
partial pressure in a turbomolecular-pumped system varies above this limit, the viscous flow of gas from the system
with the forepump oil. A mechanical pump can readily prevents backstreaming. If roughing must be continued for
produce a hydrogen partial pressure of 1 pTorr and, under longer periods, a flow of gas, such as nitrogen, can be intro-
these conditions, the ultimate hydrogen pressure produced duced into the foreline close to the test chamber to sustain
by the turbomolecular pumps listed in table 2 u7ould range the viscous flow.
between 1 and 20 nTorr. Various methods have been suggested (ii) An oil trap inserted in the foreline is effective only if
for reducing the residual hydrogen pressure, including the properly designed and rigorously maintained. A simple
use of a titanium sublimation pump in the test chamber cryogenic trap is most efficient and provides protection
(Henning 1971) or the use of a diffusion pump on the high indefinitely. Ambient temperature traps using zeolite or
pressure side of the turbomolecular pump. Holland (1972) alumina are far more convenient but their effective life is
has proposed elimination of the problem at its source by limited. For ultraclean systems they often give a sense of
using a perfluoroakyl polyether, which contains no hydrogen, protection which is unwarranted; even though such a trap
as the working fluid in the mechanical pump. reduces backstreaming by 99 % (Fulker 1968), the pressure
at the mechanical pump rarely will be better than 5 mTorr
3.2 Impurities in turbomolecular pumped systems (Holland 1971) so that rapid contamination will occur if the
If ultraclean conditions or ultimate pressures below 10 nTorr roughing time is prolonged.
are required the turbomolecular pump has disadvantages. When the diffusion pump is operating, the foreline pressure
The high vapour-pressure lubricating oil ( 10 pTorr) and
N is typically such that molecular flow exists and mechanical
the forepump oil can diffuse into the test chamber whenever pump oil can freely flow towards the system. Provided that
the pump is not at speed. Because monolayer formation times the diffusion pump design enables rejection of high vapour-
are the order of seconds at 10 pTorr, contamination cannot pressure fractions from the boiler, this does not adversely
be avoided, although an isolation valve between pump and affect the impurity levels in the vacuum system. Such diffusion
test chamber can reduce the problem. In continuous operation, pumps are discussed by Power (1966). The condensed oil
backstreaming is absent, and low sensitivity mass-spectro- returns to the boiler of the pump by passing over an area at
metric analysis does not indicate substantial pressures of oil high temperature where very low pressure is provided by an
fragments (Henning 1971). ejector stage to the foreline. A trapped, three- or four-stage
Unfortunately, the construction of the turbomolecular fractionating pump, having such self-purification capability,
pump precludes the rigorous bakeout procedures which are is capable of achieving pressures in the 1 pTorr range with
necessary for either ultrahigh vacuum or for minimum backing pressures no lower than 0.1 Torr.
contamination. Further, the problem of rapid clean up of a The use of fluids of very low vapour pressure of the silicone
pump is serious; in the event of a release of lubrication fluid and polyphenyl-ether types are valuable for untrapped systems

689
J H Singleton
and also for applications which benefit from their extreme 6 Summary
resistance to oxidation. However, in a system using a good The selection of any group of pumps is dependent upon so
liquid-nitrogen trap they do not necessarily provide any large a number of individual considerations that only a broad
marked advantage over less expensive fluids. It is particularly outline of salient factors will be attempted. The bulk of high
important to note that they require high boiler temperatures, vacuum applications are in the microtorr to nanotorr region
and some pumps are not capable of providing sufficient heat and can be fairly efficiently serviced by any of the techniques
input and at the same time avoiding disruptive boiling discussed. In this range the use of elastomer seals is common-
(Hablanian 1966). In addition, degradation of the oil at the place and bakeout requirements are usually minimal. The
higher boiler temperatures can actually increase backstreaming impurities introduced by the handling of components and
compared with that from fluids with lower boiling temperatures from the elastomers will usually be larger than those produced
(Hablanian 1966, Hablanian and Maliakal 1973). by properly operated pumps. The most economical system,
based on both capital investment and operating costs will
4.3 Difusion pump traps usually be a diffusion pump, and provided that modern,
A major factor in "liability of diffusion-pumped systems properly designed components are used and given at least
is the failure to maintain adequate trapping over sustained minimum maintenance, operation can be uneventful. If a
periods of time. To ensure the trapping of oil, a minimum of number of operators use the equipment, then the risk of
two bounces on surfaces at -195°C is essential; mercury misuse increases greatly and even the most automatic of
requires three or more impacts (Santeler 1971). systems is rarely foolproof. For such cases a turbomolecular
Most commercial traps are totally inadequate in this respect, pump should provide an additional measure of safety since
but it is possible to produce excellent traps having low incorrect operation will rarely damage either system or pump
consumption of liquid nitrogen (Arnold 1970) which will and the maintenance requirements are few.
maintain constant temperature walls with refilling at intervals Systems which are continuously cycled to atmosphere, or
up to 10h, and such traps are mandatory for optimum operate for extended periods at pressures between 1 pTorr
operation of a diffusion pumped system. and 1 mTorr, are particularly suited to either diffusion or
Two major difficulties are present in the design of diffusion turbomolecular pumping. The turbopumps again provide
pumped systems. First, if power or cooling supplies are a greater margin of safety and can also be operated at high
interrupted, the system must be automatically isolated from pressures without the development of instabilities or loss of
the pumps for full protection and, if the interruption is a pumping speed. This is of importance in thin film sputtering
long one, start-up is a slow procedure. Secondly, if ultrahigh applications where pump-down to low pressure is followed by
vacuum is required, it is not possible to provide a bake-out operation in a continuous gas flow at system pressures of
of the entire system, up to the upper jet of the pump, while 1-10 mTorr. In this type of application a diffusion pumped
at the same time providing trapping of oil. A variety of system is quite acceptable, provided a conductance limitation
techniques are discussed for minimizing this problem (Venema is used to reduce the pressure in the pump to 1 mTorr or less,
and Bandringa 1958, Santeler 1971, Singleton and Lange but this reduces the effective throughput and permits a greater
1965, Steinrisser 1967). impurity accumulation in the sputtering chamber than when
under operation with a pump which maintains its speed to
5 Fore pumps the higher pressures.
For all of the pumps which have been discussed it is necessary In some systems requiring long-term operation with high
to employ some supplementary pumping for the pressure reliability, hydrogen or its isotopes must be pumped at
range from 0.1 Torr to 0.1 mTorr. Although the most efficient pressures exceeding 1 pTorr and in such applications the
and convenient technique is certainly the mechanical pump, advantages of an isolated system using only sputter-ion
there are serious problems of contamination in this approach; pumps have not been completely realized (Baker and Bance
these can be adequately reduced by the techniques discussed 1970). The peculiar characteristics of hydrogen sorption in
previously. Mechanical pumps are also available which the sputter cathodes requires use of specially reinforced
contain no oil, for example those using self-lubricating carbon cathode structures and, even then, operation above about
blades, but these are not capable of reaching pressures in the 10 pTorr leads to pressure runaway by cathode overheating
1 mTorr region and thus can only supplement other tech- and consequent hydride dissociation. The problem of over-
niques such as cryosorption when used to start a sputter-ion heating is reduced by using a lower operating voltage for the
pump. Whilst they are not suitable for sustained operation, sputter-ion pump (Baker and Bance 1970, Singleton 1971).
this is unnecessary for many applications. The most frequent If the hydrogen is sufficiently pure, enhanced pumping by
approach is the use of a cryogenic adsorption technique, in molecular gettering can increase the effective pumping speed
which a zeolite cooled to -197°C physically adsorbs gas. by a factor of two or three (Rutherford and Jepsen 1961,
The great merit of this type of roughing system is that it is Singleton 1971), reducing the pressure and therefore the
inherently free from oil; the disadvantage is the slow and thermal load. Mueller et al. (1972) have used the technique
cumbersome procedure and, when an ageing sputter-ion pump of argon bombardment of the cathodes (Rutherford and
is difficult to start, the low pumping speed of a single-stage Jepsen 1961) to achieve the conditions for molecular gettering,
cryopump at 1 mTorr may be inadequate or may greatly thus greatly reducing the pump-down time in a high intensity
prolong the process (Power 1966, Cope 1962, Dobrozemsky proton injector.
and Moraw 1971). The bulk-getter pump would appear to have great potential
It should be noted that the extension of cryopumping and in this specific area of application since the possibility of
cryosorption techniques to very low pressure systems is overheating cannot arise. The second alternative is the use of a
a well established technique, peculiarly suited to very large sublimation pump : under low impurity conditions the diffu-
chambers such as those used for space simulation (Santeler sion of hydrogen into the sublimated films ensures efficient
et al. 1966). The application to smaller systems is not wide- utilization of the titanium. It is interesting to note that if this
spread, partly because suitable closed-cycle refrigeration diffusion is terminated by exposure to impurities, it can be
systems are expensive and because of the limited availability reactivated by the evaporation of an additional thin titanium
of liquid helium. film over the poisoned surface (Steinberg and Alger 1973).

690
The performance characteristics of modern vacuum pumps
It appears likely that the surface layer of oxide or nitride Hall L D 1969 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 6 44-7
prevents dissociation of the hydrogen molecule, thereby Hara D J and Snouse T W 1972 J. Vac. Sei. Technol. 9
inhibiting the diffusion as atoms. 552-5
Operation of sealed systems at pressures from 1 pTorr to
Henning J 1971 Vacuum 21 523-6
10 mTorr are particularly suited to sputter-ion or the orbitron
type of pump. For lower pressures, combination with a Holland L 1971 Vacuum 21 45-53
sublimator or getter pump is necessary for effective operation. Holland L 1972 Vacuum 22 234
The major advantage of isolation from the atmosphere Holland L, Laurenson L and Allen P G W 1962 Trans.
provides for very rapid reactivation in the event of power 2nd Int. Congr. Vacuum Technology Vol 1 (London:
failure and for relative freedom from organic contaminants. Pergamon) pp 208-19
Further, the typical construction of the pumps permits high
temperature bake of the entire pumping system, facilitating Jackson A G and Haas T W 1967 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 4
system clean-up. Against these powerful advantages must be 42-4
considered several limitations. The pumps have relatively Jepsen R L 1967 US Patent No 3 331 975
high capital cost and a short operating life at high pressures. Jepsen R L 1968 Proc. 4th Int. Vacuum Congr.: Inst. Phys.
The nominal pumping speeds are not a reliable indicator of Conf. Ser. No 5 pp 317-24
performance if it is necessary to pump down rapidly to an Jepsen R L, Francis A B, Rutherford S L and Kietzmann
ultimate following a period of higher pressure operation. B E 1961 Trans. 7th Nut. Symp. American Vacuum Society
Moreover, the pumps do re-emit previously pumped gases, (London : Pergamon) pp 45-50
to varying degrees.
Diffusion pumps give very satisfactory ultraclean operation Kelly J E and Vanderslice T A 1961 Vacuum 11 205
at pressures to below 0.1 nTorr. The operating costs are Kindl B 1963 Nuouo Cim. Suppl. 1 646-62
quite low and, if ambient temperature traps are used, little Kindl B and Rabusin E 1967 Nuovo Cim. Suppl. 5 36-50
maintenance is required ; high efficiency cryogenic traps
Kuznetsov M V, Nasarov A S and Ivanovsky G F 1969
require service about every 10 h. The pumping speed of such
J. Vac. Sei. Technol. 6 34-9
pumps is independent of pressure and predictable for each
species, if the molecular weight is known, and this is a consider- Lamont L T Jr 1969 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 6 47-51
able advantage over the performance of ion pumps. This is of Lawson R W and Woodward J W 1967 Vacuum 17 205-9
great importance in applications where quantitative measure- Lichtman D 1964 J. Vac. Sei. Technol. 1 23-4
ments of gas flow are required, as in mass spectrometry of
surface adsorption studies. Meuller D W et al. 1972 Proc. 1972 Proton Linear
Accelerator Conf.
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J H Singleton
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