Energetic Plasma Instrument Calibration (EPIC)
420 square foot controlled access laboratory with ion gun and exposure to chamber interior only through adjacent cleanroom.
Energetic Plasma Instrument Calibration (EPIC) Chamber
- MMS HPCA (EPIC) chamber
- Chamber dimension: 24″ dia. x 96″ cylinder
- Time to reach 10-6 range approximately one hour
- Numerous available flanges at an assortment of chamber positions for electrical and vacuum feedthroughs
- Three-axis instrument positioning and motion control system
- Scriptable movement
- Pressure and temperature monitored
- Chamber interior monitored by webcams
- Automated chamber control and parameter monitoring and recording
- Built in failsafe mechanisms to protect mission critical flight hardware
- Ion gun to 40 keV
- Equipped with Stanford Research Systems (SRS) RGA
- No TQCM
- Manual thermal control to 60 degrees C
- Internal monitoring and control of instrument thermal plate from ambient to 0 degrees C
- Chamber opens into Class 10,000 clean room
- Cleanliness requirements for hardware based upon mission
- Multiple laminar flow hood (class 100) with ESD monitoring in the cleanroom area
- Two (2) Shimadzu magnetically-levitated turbomolecular pumps (1000 L/s each) (no oil containing pumps used in this lab). No annual maintenance required.
- Two Anest-Iwata scroll pumps located in HVAC Mechanical Room (approximately $5k per pump yearly maintenance costs for pump head exchange)
- Routine base pressures of 1×10-7 Torr
- Turbomolecular pumps start in ~ 10 minutes
- Multiple ion gauges for pressure monitoring and control
- Chamber interior monitored by webcams
- High purity Nitrogen available for instrument purging
- Mechanical foreline overpressure failsafe
- All chamber venting done with high purity nitrogen
Dr. Roman Gomez at the command console of the EPIC chamber, ion gun and motion control system.
Ion source and chamber configuration
- Automated control and beam diagnostics from command console
- Nominally supplies 5 ion species H+, Ar+, Ne+, He+, N+ , but other species possible
- E x B filter combination for ion mass selection of single ion from ion mix
- Ion energies up to 40 KeV
- Ion energies as low as 100 eV
- Ion gun monitoring includes beam imaging, Faraday cup and electrostatic analyzer (ESA)
Five workbenches currently occupy the lab. Two can be certified for ESD if necessary. One can be certified for Class 100 laminar flow (back to front).
Materials prohibited both Ion and Electron chambers: nylon, silicone, PVC, hydrocarbons, high vapor pressure metals (zinc, cadmium, brass, etc.), particulate contaminated or producing items/mechanisms (blacklight inspection prior to chamber entry preferred)
Image Gallery
Epic Chamber
Command Console