# US 11,111,910 B2 · Ultra high vacuum cryogenic pumping apparatus with nanostructure material > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,111,910 B2 - Document ID: US11111910B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/207,470 - Filed: 2018-12-03 - Published: 2019-04-04 - Granted: 2021-09-07 - Earliest claimed: 2013-10-22 - Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. - Applicants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Surendra Babu Anantharaman; Wen-Cheng Yang; Chung-En Kao; Victor Y. Lu; Wei Chin - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11111910B2 ## CPC - F04B 37/08: by condensing or freezing, e.g. cryogenic pumps - F04B 37/085: {Regeneration of cryo-pumps} - F04B: POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS; PUMPS (machines for liquids, or pumps, of rotary-piston or oscillating-piston type F04C; non-positive-displacement pumps F04D; pumping of fluid by direct contact of another fluid or by using inertia of fluid to be pumped F04F) ## 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. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A cryogenic pumping apparatus comprising: a canister having a flange to be coupled to a vacuum chamber; a cryogenic blade array arranged within the canister, the cryogenic blade array including a first plurality of repeated blades one vertically stacked over another and closer to the vacuum chamber and a second plurality of repeated blades one vertically stacked over another and further from the vacuum chamber; a fixed glue layer on the second plurality of repeated blades of 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 repeated blades and absent from the first plurality of repeated blades. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the adsorbent material comprises an active charcoal material with the carbon nanotube material mixing inside pores therein. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 2, wherein the fixed glue layer comprises the carbon nanotube material. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotube material is mixed with the fixed glue layer. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 4, wherein the adsorbent material comprises an activated charcoal material. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 4, wherein a thermal conductivity of the fixed glue layer is larger than that of a second fixed glue layer not being mixed with the carbon nanotube material. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 4, wherein a working temperature of the cryogenic blade array is approximately 8 kelvin. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotube material includes single-walled carbon nanotubes. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotube material includes multi-walled carbon nanotubes. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotube material has crystallographic defects. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 10, wherein the crystallographic defects are bonding sites for particles to be absorbed by the carbon nanotube material. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 11, wherein the particles comprise H2O, O2, CO2, H2, N2, or He. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vacuum chamber is utilized for Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), or implanter chambers. ### Claim 14 A cryogenic pumping apparatus, comprising: a canister having a flange to be coupled to a vacuum chamber; a cryogenic blade array arranged within the canister; a fixed glue layer disposed on a blade of the cryogenic blade array; and an adsorbent material disposed 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; and wherein the adsorbent material includes a nanostructure material mixed inside pores of an active charcoal material. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 14, wherein the nanostructure material is configured to absorb particles and be saturated before the active charcoal material starts absorbing more particles. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 14, wherein the nanostructure material has crystallographic defects. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 16, wherein the crystallographic defects of the nanostructure material form bonds with molecules through chemisorption. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 16, wherein the crystallographic defects of the nanostructure material form bonds with atomic species through physisorption. ### Claim 19 A cryogenic pumping apparatus, comprising: a canister having a flange to be coupled to a vacuum chamber; a first stage within the canister, the first stage to be in fluid communication with the vacuum chamber and including an inlet array to condense gases having boiling points within a first temperature range; and a second stage within the canister, the second stage to be in fluid communication with the vacuum chamber but fluidly downstream of the first stage relative to the vacuum chamber, the second stage including a cold header to cool a cryogenic blade array in the second stage, the cryogenic blade array including a fixed glue layer disposed on a blade of the cryogenic blade array and an adsorbent material disposed on the fixed glue layer, wherein a carbon nanotube material is mixed with the fixed glue layer to trap gases having boiling points within a second temperature range that is less than the first temperature range; 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. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The cryogenic pumping apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an inlet array disposed within the canister above the cryogenic blade array.