UHVs and the Components Required for their Manufacture - AZoM

Essential instruments, including ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chambers, are required by some of the world’s most challenging high-technology markets.

There are many application areas such as photonics, cryogenics, surface science research, and semiconductor manufacturing that depend on high-vacuum components to sustain a low-pressure and a contaminant-free setting for optimal control and for quality control.

The pressure regime of ultra-high vacuums extends below 10^–9 mbar. To produce these conditions in a hermetically sealed chamber, it is essential to exhaust gases by using a pumping system. Then, manufacturing procedures or tests must be performed using customized high-vacuum components like compatible feed-throughs or interlocks. This is needed to obtain data or modify the process conditions in-situ.

The high tolerances of specialized vacuum settings make it possible to manufacture several high-vacuum components on a custom basis. This article comprehensively describes the technique used by Allectra to produce UHV components.

Components needed for an ultra-high vacuum

The Market for High-Vacuum Components

Allectra was established in 2002 in Berlin. The company’s founders included two entrepreneurial researchers who decided to implement a new approach for the process of marketing high technology components to the scientific sector.

Allectra advanced from a wide distribution network of high-vacuum components and began to manufacture these products in owned and dedicated locations. Since then, the founders’ aim has been to create an array of electrical feedthroughs, specifically for ultra- and high-vacuum regimes.

From the assembly and distribution of vacuum systems, Allectra started to design and produce its own range of products with its investment in a UK-based facility. This investment enabled the company to continue in-house manufacturing of its high-vacuum components.

Before this, Allectra had to liaise with external suppliers for machine components and had to subsequently ship them to its equivalent European facility for cleaning, welding, and leak-checking processes. Currently, the company has complete control over the assurance and quality of its components thanks to its exclusively designed facility, which can accommodate design, production, and administration functions.

All these capabilities are crucial in the development of high-vacuum components to be marketed to difficult markets. Allectra currently offers guarantees to customers on important aspects of the process, right from product reliability through to delivery times.

Allectra has seen many companies moving toward the most economical products in an effort to enhance their own ROIs. At Allectra, the manufacturing process is based on consistency and quality and offers long-term and noteworthy cost savings due to excellent product performance. Such a practice has witnessed the growth of successful effective global associations with high-profile customers, such as:

INFN
ESRF
CERN
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Diamond Light Source
Synchrotron Soleil
Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom

Allectra has closely worked with these customers and several others to create specialized instruments for both industrial and academic users.

Allectra’s know-how in high-vacuum component manufacturing has also led to the use of Allectra-developed products by European synchrotrons as an industry standard. The company delivered water-cooled masks, scatter guards, and cooling circuits for the 102 Versatile Macromolecular X-tallography in-situ beamline at Diamond Light Source, and also supplied a range of hard radiation switches for ITER.

High-Vacuum Components from Allectra

Allectra is one of the fastest-growing manufacturers of high-vacuum components and UHV across the world and is also one of the global market leaders. The company provides exceptional solutions to the high technology marketplace, with a solid commitment to reliable product quality and continuous development.