Method and device for producing a controlled atmosphere with low oxygen partial pressure
AssigneeEuropean Atomic Energy Community
InventorsMichael Hoffmann, Marc Steen, Victor Harrison, Robert Danzer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention concerns a method for producing a controlled atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure of below 10−13 Pa and an operating temperature above 1000° C. According to the invention a furnace is vented by a gas mixture having an oxygen partial pressure lower than 10−8 Pa but higher than that of said controlled atmosphere, and that a partial volume of said furnace is submitted to a static electric field having a strength of at least 6V/cm and reducing the oxygen partial pressure in this partial volume by orders of magnitude. The invention also relates to a device for implementing this method.
Claims10
A method for producing a controlled atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure of below 10−13 Pa and an operating temperature above 1000° C., comprising the following steps:
- venting a furnace by a gas mixture having an oxygen partial pressure lower than 10−8 Pa but higher than that of said controlled atmosphere, and submitting a partial volume of said furnace to a static electric field having a strength of at least 6 V/cm thereby reducing the oxygen partial pressure in this partial volume by orders of magnitude.
A device for producing a controlled atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure of below 10−13 Pa and an operating temperature above 1000° C., comprising a furnace with inlets (2) and outlets (3) intended to vent said furnace with a gas mixture having an oxygen partial pressure lower than 10−8 Pa but higher than that of said controlled atmosphere, wherein two electrodes (4, 5) connected to a DC source are disposed inside said furnace to reduce the oxygen partial pressure in a partial volume of said furnace defined there-between.
A device for producing a controlled atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure of below 10−13 Pa and an operating temperature above 1000° C., comprising a furnace with inlets (2) and outlets (3) for venting said furnace with a gas mixture having an oxygen partial pressure lower than 10−8 Pa but higher than that of said controlled atmosphere, wherein the furnace contains a high frequency induction coil connected to a high frequency source, two shell-shaped susceptors (12, 13) having a high electrical conductivity and surrounding a partial volume of said furnace, and a body (14) disposed therebetween and made of a material having a reduced electrical conductivity with respect to the susceptors.
A system for producing a controlled atmosphere having an oxygen partial pressure of below 10−13 Pa and an operating temperature above 1000° C., comprising a furnace with inlets (2) and outlets (3) for venting said furnace with a gas mixture having an oxygen partial pressure lower than 1031 8 Pa but higher than said controlled atmosphere, wherein the furnace contains a high frequency induction coil connected to a high frequency source, two shell-shaped susceptors (12, 13) having a high electrical conductivity and surrounding a partial volume of said furnace, and, disposed therebetween, a sample (14) to be submitted to this controlled atmosphere and made of a material having a reduced electrical conductivity with respect to the susceptors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.