Angled Gas-Deflector Plate for Differential Pumping Jets
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Solution Overview
Problem
In differential pumping systems used in particle accelerators and mass spectrometers, high-pressure gas from the target naturally flows towards lower pressure regions, forming coherent gas jets that can bypass pumping stages, leading to increased pressure upstream and reduced effectiveness of the accelerator.
Innovation Solution
A gas-deflector plate with a channel shaped and/or angled such that jetting gas enters the lower pressure region at an angle offset from the vertical axis, combined with a jet-deflector component that re-directs the gas jet, is employed to deflect the gas jet off-axis and reduce its coherence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a narrow-diameter aperture is used to focus the beam into the target chamber, then beam transport effectiveness is improved, but gas jet coherence increases causing higher pressures to propagate further up the beamline
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an asymmetric aperture design where the aperture is offset from the central axis of the beamline. This asymmetry causes the gas jet to expand preferentially in one direction rather than forming a coherent axial jet, thereby reducing gas pressure propagation along the beamline while maintaining beam transport effectiveness through the aperture
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a lateral dimension to the gas flow by offsetting the aperture from the central axis. This causes the gas jet to expand in both axial and lateral directions, dispersing the gas flow and reducing its coherence along the beamline axis, thus decreasing pressure propagation to upstream stages
2Reliability
If differential pumping stages are used to maintain vacuum, then vacuum quality is improved, but gas jets can bypass pumping stages leading to increased pumping requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The asymmetric aperture offsets the gas jet from the central axis, causing it to expand laterally and interact more effectively with the pumping stages. This prevents the gas jet from bypassing the pumping stages and reduces the pumping capacity required to maintain the desired vacuum quality
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the gas flow path by using multiple differential pumping stages with an asymmetric aperture between them. This segmentation disperses the gas jet across different spatial regions, allowing each pumping stage to handle a portion of the gas load rather than requiring a single stage to handle the entire coherent jet
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The deflection of gas jets reduces mass transport to lower pressure sections, decreases pumping requirements, and allows for lower base pressures in differential pumping systems, thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the systems.
Implementation Method 1
jetting gas moving through the channel from the higher pressure region to the lower pressure region
Implementation Method 2
the channel is shaped and/or angled such that jetting gas moving through the channel enters the lower pressure region at an angle offset from the vertical axis
Implementation Method 3
a jet-deflector component is employed such that the jetting gas strikes such jet-deflector component and is re-directed in another direction
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein are articles of manufacture, systems, and methods employing a gas-deflector plate in low to ultra-high vacuum systems that use differential pumping (e.g., gas-target particle accelerators, mass spectrometers, and windowless delivery ports). In certain embodiments, the gas-deflector plate is configured to be positioned between higher and lower pressure regions in a pressurized system, wherein the gas-deflector plate has a channel therethrough shaped and/or angled such that jetting gas moving through the channel enters the lower pressure region at an angle offset from the vertical axis of the gas-deflector plate and/or the channel. In other embodiments, a jet-deflector component is employed such that the jetting gas strikes such jet-deflector component and is re-directed in another direction.