Ultra high vacuum cryogenic pumping apparatus with nanostructure material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10145371-B2
Application number	US-201314059851-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 22, 2013
Priority date	Oct 22, 2013
Publication date	Dec 4, 2018
Grant date	Dec 4, 2018

Abstract

Cryogenic pump apparatuses include nanostructure material to achieve an ultra-high vacuum level. The nanostructure material can be mixed with either an adsorbent material or a fixed glue layer which is utilized to fix the adsorbent material. The nanostructure material's good thermal conductivity and adsorption properties help to lower working temperature and extend regeneration cycle of the cryogenic pumps.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cryogenic pumping system comprising:
a canister having a flange to be coupled to a vacuum chamber;
a cold header arranged in the canister;
a cryogenic blade array arranged within the canister surrounding the cold header, the cryogenic blade array including a first plurality of blades closer to the vacuum chamber and a second plurality of blades further from the vacuum chamber, wherein the first plurality of blades has a same shape and pattern as the second plurality of blades;
a fixed glue layer arranged on the cryogenic blade array; and
an adsorbent material on the fixed glue layer, at least one of the adsorbent material or the fixed glue layer including a carbon nanotube material;
wherein the carbon nanotube material is arranged on the second plurality of blades and absent from the first plurality of blades;
wherein the adsorbent material comprises an active charcoal material with the carbon nanotube material mixing inside pores therein.

2. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 1 , wherein the fixed glue layer comprises the carbon nanotube material.

3. A cryogenic pumping system comprising:
a canister having a flange to be coupled to a vacuum chamber;
a cold header arranged in the canister;
a cryogenic blade array arranged within the canister surrounding the cold header, the cryogenic blade array including a first plurality of blades closer to the vacuum chamber and a second plurality of blades further from the vacuum chamber, wherein the first plurality of blades has a same shape and pattern as the second plurality of blades;
a fixed glue layer arranged on the cryogenic blade array; and
an adsorbent material on the fixed glue layer, at least one of the adsorbent material or the fixed glue layer including a carbon nanotube material;
wherein the carbon nanotube material is arranged on the second plurality of blades and absent from the first plurality of blades;
wherein the carbon nanotube material is mixed with the fixed glue layer;
wherein a thermal conductivity of the fixed glue layer mixed with the carbon nanotube material is larger than that of the fixed glue layer not mixed with the carbon nanotube material.

4. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 3 , wherein the adsorbent material comprises an activated charcoal material.

5. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 3 , wherein a working temperature of the cryogenic blade array is approximately 8 kelvin.

6. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 1 , wherein the carbon nanotube material includes single-walled carbon nanotubes.

7. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 1 , wherein the carbon nanotube material includes multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

8. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 1 , wherein the carbon nanotube material has crystallographic defects.

9. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 8 , wherein the crystallographic defects of the-carbon nanotube material are bonding sites for particles to be absorbed by the carbon nanotube material.

10. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 9 , wherein the particles comprise H 2 O, O 2 , CO 2 , H 2 , N 2 , or He.

11. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 1 , wherein the vacuum chamber is utilized for Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), or implanter chambers.

12. A method comprising:
applying a fixed glue layer on a blade of a cryogenic blade array; and
applying an adsorbent material, which includes a nanostructure material mixed inside pores of an active charcoal material, on the fixed glue layer;
wherein the fixed glue layer and the adsorbent material are formed on both upper and lower surfaces of the blade of the cryogenic blade array.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the nanostructure material is mixed inside pores of the active charcoal material by a ball milling method.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the nanostructure material is saturated before the active charcoal material starts absorbing particles.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the nanostructure material has crystallographic defects.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein crystallographic defects of the nanostructure material form bonds with molecules through chemisorption.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the crystallographic defects of the nanostructure material form bonds with atomic species through physisorption.

18. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 1 , wherein a thermal conductivity of the fixed glue layer mixed with the carbon nanotube material is larger than that of the fixed glue layer not mixed with the carbon nanotube material.

19. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 1 , wherein the adsorbent material comprises an activated charcoal material.

20. The cryogenic pumping system of claim 3 , wherein the carbon nanotube material is attached on the second plurality of blades of the cryogenic blade array by a fixed glue layer mixed with the carbon nanotube material.

Assignees

• Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• Anantharaman Surendra Babu
• Yang Wen-Cheng
• Kao Chung-En
• Lu Victor Y
• Chin Wei

Classifications

• F04B37/08 Primary

  by condensing or freezing, e.g. cryogenic pumps · CPC title

• F04B37/085

  Regeneration of cryo-pumps · CPC title