Allectra has recently manufactured a custom flange for Spacetek Technology, a manufacturer of highly reliable and sensitive time-of-flight mass spectrometers.
Image credit: Allectra
These instruments are designed to provide real time measurements of residual and process gases in harsh and corrosive environments. The highly compact instruments provide 10 full mass spectra per second over a mass range from 1-1200 u/e.
Providing exceptional performance while keeping an attractive form factor and a high ease of maintenance, meant a simple assembly was required to mount the complete mass analyzer on a DN100 CF Flange. This base flange was developed and manufactured in close collaboration with Allectra.
For providing the instrument with the required voltages it features aSub-D25 way feedthrough, six 5kV feedthroughs and 2SMA进料。此外，它具有用于容纳探测器的矩形开口，该开口可以在达到生命的尽头后被替换。该开口的密封需要一个ra 0.2粗糙度的表面，在Allectra的车间进行了抛光。最后，法兰在空中和真空侧总共有40个螺纹孔，并作为精确力学和模块化硬件体系结构的机械参考。在设计阶段，Allectra工程团队通过制造高真空成分的专业知识来支持开发，包括优化密封表面，机械接口的放置以及用于进料的焊接技术。
Tests at CERN showed that the instrument (and therefore the flange) performs well. It was possible to achieve pressures in the 10e-9 mbar range and bake-out temperatures of 130 °C. Extensive measurement campaigns at Spacetek Technology also proved that the instrument is capable of measuring isotopes of natural trace gases in air in the ppb range, for example, 132Xe at 23 ppb.