T-M Vacuum Products announces that it has begun delivery of Vacuum Furnaces designed constructed specifically for the purpose of purifying Superconducting Accelerator Cavities.
Superconducting accelerator cavities are fabricated out of ultra pure niobium and are used to accelerate charged particles to high speeds in nuclear accelerators. While they operate at near absolute zero temperatures prior to operation they must be purified at very high temperatures under ultra high vacuum to remove impurities and outgas entrapped hydrogen.
To meet this purification requirement T-M Vacuum has developed a series of vacuum furnaces. The furnaces utilize electro polished stainless steel chambers to eliminate any contamination coming from the vacuum furnace surface. The hot zone insulation is of all metal construction and is treated to remove any surface contaminates that may have been introduced during fabrication.
The internal heating elements can be configured to attain temperatures as high as 2000C if required, however typically out gassing is done in the range of 1000-1400C
The unit is pumped by multiple cryogenic vacuum pumps to attain an initial background pressure in the very low 10-8 Torr range. This is significant because standard commercial vacuum furnaces typically only attain background pressure in the 10-5 Torr range.
Niobium accelerator cavities with fixtures as large as 32” in diameter can be accommodated in the larger of the two furnaces available. The smaller version can accept cavities as large as 16” in diameter (includes supporting fixture)
To date 5 units have been order by institutes using accelerators for particle physics research and additional orders are pending.
More information is available here: http://www.fnal.gov/pub/today/archive_2010/today10-01-15.html
TM Vacuum Products Inc is a 45 year old manufacturer of advanced vacuum ovens and furnaces. Headquartered in Cinnaminson NJ it ships units worldwide used for research as well as standard commercial heat treating applications. For further information contact info@tmvacuum.com 856-829-2000