Sputter ion pump with penning-trap current sensor
AssigneeColdQuanta, Inc.
InventorsSteven Michael Hughes, Farhad Majdeteimouri
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sputter-ion-pump system includes a sputter ion pump and an electronic drive. The electronic drive supplies a voltage across the ion pump to establish, in cooperation with a magnetic field, a Penning trap within the ion pump. A current sensor measures the Penning-trap current across the Penning trap. The Penning trap is used as an indication of pressure within the ion pump or a vacuum chamber including or in fluid communication with the ion pump. The pressure information can be used to determine flow rates, e.g., due to a load, outgassing, and/or leakage from an ambient.
Claims15
An ion-pump system comprising:
- a sputter ion pump having an anode and a cathode set including at least one cathode, the sputter ion pump having a magnetic-field source for generating a magnetic field that cooperates with a voltage differential to establish and maintain a Penning trap;
- and
- an ion-pump drive for providing the voltage differential between the anode and the cathode set, the ion-pump drive including:
- a voltage generator coupled to the sputter ion pump for providing the voltage differential between the anode and the cathode set,
- a current sensor for measuring a Penning-trap current through the Penning trap, and
- a drive controller coupled to the current sensor and the voltage generator for adjusting the voltage differential provided by the voltage generator with a drive function based on variables including the present voltage differential and of the measured Penning-trap current.
A system comprising non-transitory media encoded with code that, when executed by a processor, implements a process including:
- applying a drive voltage between an anode and a cathode of an ion pump for providing a voltage differential that cooperates with a magnetic field in the ion pump to establish a Penning trap;
- measuring a Penning-trap current across the Penning trap;
- adjusting the voltage differential according to a drive function that is based on variables including the present voltage differential and the measured Penning-trap current.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.