Tilted Helical Gas Conduit for High-Voltage Breakdown Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Gas delivery systems face challenges in minimizing gas breakdown when transitioning from low to high voltage, which limits design flexibility and can cause equipment failure and safety hazards due to high electric fields.

Innovation Solution

A reentrant gas delivery system with a tilted helical conduit design that experiences electric field reversals, arresting breakdowns and allowing for flexible conduit design by progressing through multiple equipotential lines and returning by fewer lines per winding, reducing the risk of gas breakdown.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If gas is delivered directly from low voltage to high voltage through a straight conduit, then the delivery path is simple and design is flexible, but gas breakdown occurs due to high electric fields

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvegas breakdown preventionVSAvoidconduit design complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The conduit is configured in a helical or curved path between low and high voltage regions, causing the gas to experience multiple electric field reversals as it traverses the winding path. This curvature transforms the straight-line delivery into a multi-directional path that naturally reduces breakdown risk through repeated field direction changes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

Solution Approach 2:

The gas delivery path is extended from a simple linear dimension into a three-dimensional helical trajectory. By adding spatial complexity in multiple dimensions, the conduit allows gas to progressively navigate through equipotential lines and experience field reversals without requiring additional components or complex mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Reliability

If constraints are imposed to prevent gas breakdown, then gas breakdown is reduced, but design flexibility of the gas delivery system is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvegas breakdown reductionVSAvoiddesign flexibility
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The conduit design allows for dynamic configuration of the helical path parameters (radius, pitch, number of windings) to optimize performance for different operating conditions. This dynamic adaptability enables the same basic principle to serve multiple design requirements while maintaining breakdown prevention through the fundamental helical field-reversal mechanism.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

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 reentrant gas delivery system effectively reduces or eliminates gas breakdown while providing design flexibility, ensuring safe and reliable operation in high voltage applications.

Implementation Method 1

the fluid delivery conduit is formed into a tilted helical so that a fluid flowing through the fluid delivery conduit experiences an electric field reversal through each winding of the fluid delivery conduit

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectElectric field reversal: Electric Field

Data Source

PatentEP4113568B1Reentrant gas system for charged particle microscope
Publication Date: 2024.02.28 FEI CO
  • EP4113568B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4113568B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4113568B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3B

AI summary

Disclosed herein are apparatuses and systems for reentrant fluid delivery techniques. An example system includes at least a fluid delivery conduit extending between first and second electrical potentials, wherein the fluid delivery conduit is formed into a tilted helical so that a fluid flowing through the fluid delivery conduit experiences an electric field reversal through each winding of the fluid delivery conduit.