Titanium Sublimators

Product Features

High loads of active gases with cartridges demonstrated to handle over 800 on/off cycles.
High pumping speeds of up to a few liters/second per cm² of pump wall area, resulting in thousands of liters/second for a modest sized container.
Rapid pump-down with power applicable to the sublimation system as soon as system pressure has dropped below 50 microns.
Pumping in hostile environments, including areas with intense RF radiation, high pressure insulating gas, and occasional power outages.

Titanium sublimation pumping is ideal for fast pump down and high loads of chemically active gases. A variety of sublimator cartridge sizes and array designs are available to meet specific space, power and pumping requirements.

Applications of Titanium Sublimators

High Loads of Active Gases

Titanium sublimation pumping is ideal for fast pump down and high loads of chemically active gases. The NEC sublimation system was originally designed to handle applications where active gases were being continuously fed into an ultra-high vacuum system. However, the sublimator cartridges can be cycled repeatedly to handle very high bursts of active gases without requiring standby power.

High Speed for Static Systems

The very high speed of the titanium sublimation system when combined with a small ion pump allows for a very efficient method of pumping a static system well into the ultra-high vacuum range. An individual 20 gram titanium sublimator is capable of pumping approximately 2 x 10⁹ liters of active gas at 10^-6 Torr. Arrays of sublimators are typically used to provide very long lifetimes.

Rapid Pumpdown

Typically, power can be applied to the sublimation system as soon as system pressure has dropped below 50 microns.

Pumping in Hostile Environments

NEC sublimation systems are in use in areas that experience intense RF radiation, high pressure insulating gas and occasional power outages. The use of turbo pumps, cryopumps or ion pumps would be very difficult under these conditions.

Design of Titanium Sublimators

The titanium sublimator cartridge is a simple and dependable two terminal cartridge. It is designed to mount in any orientation on a simple support to allow ease of replacement after the cartridge is expended. The unique design of the cartridges allows a rating of up to 75% usage of the titanium available. The element is shielded so that as the titanium is expended, there is no direct opening between the heating element and the pumping volume. This prevents burn-through holes in the cylinder wall, which would lead to hotspots that can adversely affect the pumping rate.

Cartridge capacities of 10g, 20g, and 50g are available, with various available lead types for maximum compatibility. Switching cartridges is done externally without breaking vacuum.

Complete Titanium Sublimator Systems

Combines the high speed of titanium sublimation with the ability of the sputter ion pump to pump chemically inert gases.
Uses a single cartridge or multi-cartridge array in custom vacuum housings.
Comes with the NEC titanium sublimation power supply.

Please contact NEC for more information on design options, or advice on which available design would be best suited for your application.