Vacuum pump with reduced seal requirements

A vacuum pump comprising:

• a substantially hermetically sealed enclosure;
• a core pump assembly located within the enclosure and comprising two stator halves that are joined to define a plurality of pump chambers therein;
• and
• an inert purge gas inlet fluidly connected to the enclosure for supplying inert purge gas to an interior of the enclosure surrounding the core pump assembly, wherein
• the plurality of pump chambers include an inlet pump chamber configured to receive process gas from a vacuum system,
• the two stator halves extend between a first axial end face at a high vacuum, inlet side of the vacuum pump and a second, opposing axial end face at a low vacuum, outlet side of the vacuum pump and each define a radially inner face along which they are joined together, and
• at least one stator half includes a purge gas leakage channel that fluidly connects the first axial end face to a pump chamber downstream of the inlet pump chamber.