{"id":992,"date":"2014-03-12T15:56:05","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T22:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/?p=992"},"modified":"2014-11-06T09:17:53","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T17:17:53","slug":"ion-pump-rejuvenation-procedure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/ion-pump-rejuvenation-procedure\/","title":{"rendered":"Ion Pump Rejuvenation Procedure"},"content":{"rendered":"

After prolonged periods of sputtering with Argon gas, the ion pumps can become saturated, resulting in occasional “belches” of Argon during which the ion pumps overheat and release large amounts of gas. These belches usually result in a snowball effect that can dump the system. Rejuvenating the ion pumps once every few months (more often if you do a lot of sputtering) will help to prevent the belch problem from recurring.<\/p>\n

To rejuvenate the ion pumps with O<\/b>2<\/b>:<\/b><\/p>\n

1. Turn off all filaments, including the ionization tube (DIG).<\/p>\n

2. Set the ion pump control panel meter to the 200mA current settings and set the<\/p>\n

ion pump to the run (protected) mode.<\/p>\n

3. Slowly bleed in O2 until there are 40mA of current shown on the ion pump panel meter. You will need to change ranges on the panel meter as the current is increased.<\/p>\n

4. Adjust the leak valve as needed to maintain 40mA of current for 20 to 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

5. Close the leak valve. It takes about one day for the vacuum to return to its previous level.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information on rebuilding ion pumps, search for Ion Pump in the RBD TechSpot blog search box.<\/p>\n

For more information on ion pump theory, here is a link to an informative paper – https:\/\/cds.cern.ch\/record\/454179\/files\/p37.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

And, from Wikipedia:<\/p>\n

An ion pump<\/b> (also referred to as a sputter ion pump) is a type of vacuum pump capable of reaching pressures as low as 10\u221211<\/sup> mbar under ideal conditions.An ion pump ionizes gas within the vessel it is attached to and employs a strong electrical potential, typically 3kV to 7kV, which allows the ions to accelerate into and be captured by a solid electrode and its residue.<\/p>\n

The basic element of the common ion pump is a Penning trap.\u00a0A swirling cloud of electrons produced by an electric discharge are temporarily stored in the anode region of a Penning trap. These electrons ionize incoming gas atoms and molecules. The resultant swirling ions are accelerated to strike a chemically active cathode (usually titanium). On impact the accelerated ions will either become buried within the cathode or sputter cathode material onto the walls of the pump. The freshly sputtered chemically active cathode material acts as a getter that then evacuates the gas by both chemisorption and physisorption resulting in a net pumping action. Inert and lighter gases, such as He and H2<\/sub> tend not sputter and are absorbed by physisorption. Some fraction of the energetic gas ions (including gas that is not chemically active with the cathode material) can strike the cathode and acquire an electron from the surface neutralizing it as it rebounds. These rebounding energetic neutrals are buried in exposed pump surfaces.<\/p>\n

Both the pumping rate and capacity of such capture methods are dependent on the specific gas species being collected and the cathode material absorbing it. Some species, such as carbon monoxide, will chemically bind to the surface of a cathode material. Others, such as hydrogen, will diffuse into the metallic structure. In the former example, the pump rate can drop as the cathode material becomes coated. And, in the latter, the rate remains fixed by the rate at which the hydrogen diffuses.<\/p>\n

There are three main types of ion pumps, the conventional or standard diode pump, the noble diode pump and the triode pump.<\/p>\n

Ion pumps are commonly used in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) systems, as they can attain ultimate pressures less than 10\u221211<\/sup> mbar.\u00a0In contrast to other common UHV pumps, such as turbomolecular pumps and diffusion pumps, ion pumps have no moving parts and use no oil. They are therefore clean, need little maintenance, and produce no vibrations. These advantages make ion pumps well-suited for use in scanning probe microscopy and other high-precision apparatus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After prolonged periods of sputtering with Argon gas, the ion pumps can become saturated, resulting in occasional “belches” of Argon during which the ion pumps overheat and release large amounts of gas. These belches usually result in a snowball effect … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[164],"tags":[129,60,128],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Ion-pump.jpg?fit=243%2C207&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2DEXo-g0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":381,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/ion-plasma-to-clean-ion-pumps\/","url_meta":{"origin":992,"position":0},"title":"Ion Plasma to clean ion pumps","author":"Randy","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"If you try to start an ion pump when the vacuum in the chamber is in the mid 10-4 range, the gas load will be high enough to produce a visible ion plasma. \u00a0Normally you don\u2019t start the ion pumps until the vacuum is pulled down to the low 10-5\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ion pump element","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/DI-Ion-pump-element.png?fit=510%2C595&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1874,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/endoscopic-ion-pump-inspection\/","url_meta":{"origin":992,"position":1},"title":"Endoscopic ion pump inspection","author":"Randy","date":"January 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"An easy way to determine whether or not an ion pump needs to be rebuilt is to perform an endoscopic ion pump inspection. The hard way is to drop the ion pumps. In the last few years the prices have really come down on USB and android\/iPhone endoscopes. If you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"coating_on_ceramic","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/coating_on_ceramic.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":231,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/how-to-align-the-04-303-ion-gun\/","url_meta":{"origin":992,"position":2},"title":"How to align the 04-303 ion gun","author":"Randy","date":"November 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This post explains how to align the Physical Electronics 04-303 ion gun typically found on PHI Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy systems. The alignment principles explained here will apply to just about any surface analysis ion source. First, here is a video that explains all of the alignment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ion Sources"","block_context":{"text":"Ion Sources","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/ion-sources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2891,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/argon-bottle-installation-procedure\/","url_meta":{"origin":992,"position":3},"title":"Argon Bottle Installation Procedure","author":"Randy","date":"June 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This procedure explains how to install and pump out a 25cc argon gas bottle for an 04-303 or 06-350 ion gun used on PHI XPS and AES systems.","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and 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with the PHI 04-303 and 06-350 sputter ion guns on many x-ray photoelectron and Auger spectrometers. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 When you replace the argon or oxygen bottle on your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"argon-bottle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/argon-bottle.jpg?fit=486%2C324&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3860,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/ion-pump-elements-flip-the-plates-part-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":992,"position":5},"title":"Ion pump elements \u2013 Flip the plates part II","author":"Randy","date":"October 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog post will explain how you can modify the ion pump element Tantalum and Titanium plates to expose a fresh surface area which functionally is the same thing as replacing the plates.","rel":"","context":"In "General Optics and Vacuum"","block_context":{"text":"General Optics and Vacuum","link":"https:\/\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/category\/general-optics-and-vacuum\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"new sputter area","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/new-sputter-area.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/new-sputter-area.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/new-sputter-area.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rbdinstruments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/new-sputter-area.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 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