There are times when technological or scientific progress is blocked for want of a breakthrough in a key area, just as there appear to be instances of a problem and its solution emerging simultaneously and independently. Upon closer inspection, however, this latter happy state is usually the result of long, hard work by people who had the insight to develop a solution before their peers were aware of the existence of a problem. At the moment, there are a number of convergent events occurring in vacuum technology which in all likelihood will have as profound an effect as the development of ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) technology in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These developments may be viewed as challenges posed by the requirements of certain technologies, or as a series of breakthroughs which will lead to new opportunities. Materials and materials processing or coatings are the key factors in most of these new developments, just as new pump and seal designs, and new vacuum practice were responsible for the development of UHV (10−9–10−11 torr) technology.

In particular, aluminum is emerging as a material which may replace stainless steel for applications where the ultimate in vacuum is required. By suitable treatment, pure aluminum and aluminum alloys can be made to produce static outgassing rates more than 10 times lower than stainless steel. Systems capable of reaching a base pressure in the extremely high vacuum (XHV) range of 10−12–10−13 torr, such as those described in this issue by H. Ishimaru, are now commercially available.

Aluminum and aluminum alloys have long been among the preferred materials for ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) systems operating in the 10−10–10−11 torr (10−8–10−11 Pa) range. Pure aluminum and aluminum alloys have an extremely low outgassing rate, are completely nonmagnetic, lack crystal structure transitions at low temperatures, are not sources of heavy metals contamination in semiconductor processing applications, have low residual radioactivity in radiation environments, and are lightweight. Because of aluminum's high thermal conductivity and low thermal emissivity, aluminum components can tolerate high heat fluxes in spite of the relatively low melting point of aluminum.

Recently developed aluminum alloys and new surface finishing techniques allow the attainment of extremely high vacuums (XHV) in the 10−12–10−13 torr (10−10–10−11 Pa) range. XHV technology requires the use of special aluminum alloy flange/gasket/bolt, nut and washer combinations, aluminum alloy-ceramic seals, windows, bellows, right-angle and gate valves, turbomolecular pumps, sputter ion pumps and titanium sublimination pumps, Bayard-Alpert ion gauges, quadrupole mass filters, and related aluminum alloy vacuum components. New surface treatment methods and new techniques in welding and extremely sensitive helium leak testing are required. In short, a whole new technology has been developed to take advantage of the opportunities presented by these new vacuum materials. This article describes some of these newly developed fabrication technologies and vacuum materials.

The TRISTAN electron-positron collider constructed at the National Laboratory for High Energy Physics in Japan is the first all-aluminum alloy accelerator, and the first to use UHV technology.

For the past 10 years, reactively deposited films of titanium nitride, TiN, have been applied to cutting tools such as drills, hob cutters, and endmills. A nominal film thickness of 2–4 μm has been shown to give excellent resistance to abrasion and corrosion and to extend tool life three times or more. This is attributable to the physical properties of TiN, which include microhardness of 1,800 kg/mm2 and surface friction approximately one-third that of high-speed tool steel. Corrosion resistance is realized from the dense, fine-grain equiaxed structure of the inert TiN film. Additional applications range from decorative use based on its goldlike appearance to use as a diffusion barrier in semiconductor devices.

More recently, TiN has found application as a high quality coating for components used in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV and XHV) system apparatus and especially in high energy particle accelerators. This article discusses the application of TiN coatings to ultrahigh vacuum systems and high energy particle accelerators.

The native oxides which form on stainless steel and aluminum tend to be porous and trap large amounts of water vapor and other gases. These trapped gases can be partially removed by vacuum baking, although for particle beam devices in which beam-induced desorption is at least as important as the thermal outgassing rate, an extensive beam-conditioning process is required to get rid of the final vestiges of trapped gas. The oxide surfaces have low sticking coefficients for the adsorption of incident gas molecules, but the oxides have much higher secondary electron yields than the clean metals and consequently have very high beam-induced desorption rates.

Synchrotron light sources are electron storage rings that produce synchrotron radiation by accelerating electrons in a circular storage ring. The synchrotron light (photon beam) is then used to irradiate various sample materials for basic and applied research in such fields as solid state physics, biology, chemistry, surface science, and technology.

The electron storage ring must provide an ultrahigh vacuum environment for the electron beam to minimize electron residual gas collision which would shorten the beam-lifetime. This article will discuss the design of electron storage ring vacuum systems and materials, and how the choice of materials can affect the machine design.

A typical electron storage ring is shown in Figure 1. It consists of an injector (linac and booster), transport system, storage rings, and experimental photon beam lines. These machines vary in size from a few meters in circumference for a compact light source used for x-ray lithography, to a few hundred meters in circumference for high energy physics.

The vacuum system for an electron storage ring is an all-metal ultrahigh vacuum system. The operating pressure is in the low 10−9 torr range with stored electron beam, and 10−10 torr without beam.

Certain unique vacuum problems must be faced in electron storage ring design: photon-stimulated gas desorption, power dissipation in the chamber walls, impedance changes due to changes in the chamber cross section, conductance limitations, accurate placement of the chamber, and all of those sundry problems associated with a large bake-able all-metal UHV system. Some of these characteristics are illustrated schematically in Figure 2. Two excellent papers that address many of these issues have been written by N. Mistry (system design) and H. Wiedemen (impedances and instabilities).

Wall materials for fusion research must meet stringent requirements. The purity of a fusion plasma is critical to obtaining meaningful results during fusion plasma experiments. The concentration of impurity ions in the plasma must be kept low because impurities result in radiative losses that at best decrease the efficiency of the plasma “burn” and at worst prevent ignition completely. Radiative losses scale with the effective charge, Z, of the plasma. Radiative losses due to bremsstrahlung are proportional to Z2; those due to recombination are proportional to Z4. Figure 1 shows the impurity concentration above which ignition cannot be achieved as a function of impurity atomic number for an experimental power reactor. The advantage of using a low-Z material as the first wall of a fusion machine (i.e., as the plasma-facing material) is evident.

The major plasma impurities observed in most experiments are oxygen, carbon, and first-wall material. These impurities are introduced into the plasma by many mechanisms, including outgassing, desorption, chemical interaction, sputtering, and evaporation. Chemical and physical interactions between the first wall and the energetic hydrogenic ions produced in the plasma are important factors in impurity production. (Here “hydrogen” refers to hydrogen and its isotopes, deuterium and tritium.)

The energy contained in the plasma can be quite large (many megajoules) and can interact with the first wall on a short rime-scale (e.g., a millisecond). It is possible that no material will prove suitable for all operational scenarios. Therefore, the burden of reducing the plasma/first-wall interaction to an acceptable level rests on both plasma and materials scientists.

In order for the new generation of long pulse D-T (deuterium-tritium) burning tokamaks to be successful, it is necessary to minimize the helium “ash” that accumulates during the thermonuclear burn. Since tritium is radioactive as well as relatively expensive, the tritium inventory stored at any given facility must also be minimized. It is therefore necessary either to preferentially remove the helium from the plasma, or to recycle all of the gas, extracting the deuterium and tritium for reuse as fuel. This latter approach requires incorporating a high pumping speed and correspondingly large pumping ducts into the fusion device design, as well as an external facility for separating helium from the D-T fuel. Since the He/H ratio in the plasma should not exceed ~5%, the pumping speed must be 20 times higher than required for a system which removes the helium only. The resulting complexity of the pumping system and the need to handle large quantities of tritium imposes a cost penalty of ~100M$ for a typical commercial fusion reactor design. It is therefore desirable to design a pumping system which removes helium only, leaving the D-T fuel in the fusion device. Recall, however, that existing pumping technologies generally provide better pumping of hydrogen, and many pump designs are totally ineffective at pumping helium.

Despite the low solubility of helium in many metals, permanent trapping of helium atoms occurs at defect sites, culminating ultimately in the formation of helium bubbles. Retention of trapped inert gas is determined by diffusional processes and is consequently temperature-dependent. Hydrogen has not only a much higher solubility, but also a much higher diffusion coefficient than helium in most metals. Consequently, it is to be expected that for some metals, there is a temperature range in which implanted hydrogen is released much more quickly than implanted helium. Brooks and Mattas proposed using this “self-pumping” effect as the basis for a pump which preferentially removes helium in the presence of hydrogen.

Many advanced technologies, such as surface science, semiconductor processing and high energy physics, call for vacuum levels of the order of 10−11 mbar and lower. These pressures can not be reached without a careful choice of materials, treatments, and evacuation means for the vacuum device involved. Non-evaporable getters (NEGs) are increasingly being recognized as an interesting and powerful solution for many vacuum problems. NEGs have been used extensively in sealed-off devices such as microwave tubes, traveling wave tubes, x-ray tubes, lamps, and infrared detector dewars, in which their main role is to assure the desired vacuum level throughout the life of the sealed device. The getter material can be considered as a chemical pump which removes the active gases in the residual atmosphere of the vacuum device by forming stable chemical compounds.

The choice of materials, treatments, and structures of nonevaporable getter materials is critical for the optimization of the sorption and diffusion processes which are the basis of the NEG pumping mechanism. The effectiveness of this pumping mechanism at very low pressures, and the cleanliness and simplicity of operation have made this pumping approach ideal, in combination with other pumping technologies, for reaching the extreme high vacuums today's advanced technologies require. This article will explain the mechanism of the gettering process, describing materials, treatments, and structures used in standard vacuum practice, and will review some of the most typical and interesting applications.

In Caen in northwest France near the Normandy beaches, six laboratories involved in materials research have joined together to promote the scientific process; to discuss their topics, projects and results; and, more generally, to work together in an interdisciplinary way. The six laboratories that form the Association Normande de Recherches sur les Matériaux (ANOREM, or the Normandy Association for Materials Research) are the following:

■ Atomic Spectroscopy Laboratory

■ Catalysis and Spectrochemistry Laboratory,

■ Center for Interdisciplinary Research with Heavy Ions (CIRIL),

■ Molecular Chemistry Laboratory,

■ Crystallography and Materials Science Laboratory (CRISMAT), and

■ Materials Science Engineering

Laboratory (LERMAT).

These laboratories perform research on topics ranging from structural chemistry and radiation damage to high Tc superconductors and the European Hermes shuttle project.

Among the activities of the Laboratoire de Spectroscopie Atomique, the following two belong to the field of materials science:

1. Color center laser research, which spans Bridgman growth, shaping, polishing and coloring of active samples. Besides making “classical” samples, researchers are looking for new materials with improved stability against illumination and thermal bleaching. In particular, researchers are trying to master additive coloration of pure and doped NaF. (This crystal is usually colored by ionizing radiation since its coloration by additives is quite difficult.) There is a good prospect for building a flashlamp-pumped, tunable infrared laser operating at room temperature with a sample which would be “everlasting,” due to an in situ régénération of the active centers by the flashlamp itself. Studies are also being conducted on how to make alkali halide samples with multi-dielectric coatings (either anti-reflecting or mirror). Researchers are investigating such questions as: Should the coating be made before or after coloration? How does it adhere at liquid nitrogen temperatures? What precautions should be taken against attack by moisture?

2. Optical spectroscopy of defects created in insulating solids by impact of high energetic heavy ions. This research is a joint project with the GRIL and is described below.