Primary vacuum
Preparation checklist
Tools necessary for operation
It is necessary to open a couple of windows to be ready to operate the vacuum system. You must be operating from one of the hutch computer (mec-daq, mec-monitor, mec-console, mec-laser, mec-hutch01, mec-laptop08), or you can ssh to these computers.
mechome
In a terminal, type mechome to open the above window. It is the start point of many processes in the MEC system.
MEC Vacuum
In mechome, in the top left part of the window, press the "Vacuum" button to unfold the menu, then select MEC Vacuum to open the above window. It will be used to operate the pumping system components: pumps, gate-valves, etc
tc_vacuum
In a terminal logged as mecopr, type tc_vacuum to open the above window. Often called "striptool", this type of window can display the time evolution of some environmental parameters. Here it shows 4 curves monitoring the pressure value read by 4 different gauges. You can reshape the window and change the time axis range to monitor pressure values over a long time span (~ 1 hour). The curves correspond to the following gauges:
MEC:TC1:GPI:01:PMON → target chamber Pirani gauge
MEC:TC1:GCC:01:PMON → target chamber Cold-cathode gauge
MEC:SEW:GPI:03:PMON → scroll pump Pirani gauge (Maglev roughing)
MEC:SEW:GPI:04:PMON → scroll pump Pirani gauge (Varian turbo roughing)
Primary vacuum
Prerequisites
- All chamber doors must be closed
...
- All chamber
...
- flanges must be
...
- in place (no obvious opening)
- TC1:VGC:11, TC1:VGC:12, TC1-VGC-01, TC1-VGC-02, TC1-VGC-03, TC1-VGC-04
...
- must be closed
- MEZ-PMF-01 EBARA A70, MEZ-PMF-02 EBARA A70 must be off
...
- (if faulted, press RESET
...
- )
- TC1-VGC-04, MEZ:VGC:17, MEZ:VGC:18, MEZ-VIC-19
...
- must be
...
- closed
- MEZ-GPI-02
...
- must display ~ 6.5e+02 torr
...
- (if lower,
...
- open MEZ:VGC:18
...
- until
...
- restored, then close)
- TC1-VGC-04, MEZ:VGC:17, MEZ:VGC:18, MEZ-VIC-19
...
- must be closed and allowed to open
Pumping
...
procedure
- Press OPN on TC1-VGC-04
...
- Press RUN on MEZ-PMF-01
...
- EBARA A70
- Press OPN on MEZ:VGC:17 (
...
- wait a few seconds if MEZ:VGC:17 cannot open
...
- )
- Press RUN on MEZ-PMF-02
...
- EBARA A70
- Press OPN on MEZ-VIC-19 (
...
- wait a few seconds if MEZ-VIC-19 cannot open)
Both Ebara pumps will start running in MAIN mode. On the striptool graph, the target chamber Pirani gauge value should drop rapidly. Once pre-pump Pirani gauges (MEZ-GPI-06 and MEZ-GPI-07) drop below 7.5e+00 torr, the Ebara pumps will start running in BOOSTER mode (typically after 10-15 minutes from startup). The primary vacuum procedure is finished when the target chamber Pirani gauge (MEC:TC1:GPI:01) drops below 5.0e-02 torr (typically after 30-40 minutes from startup).
...
The turbo pump subsystem is now ready for operation.
Prerequisites
- Turbo pump subsystem must be up and running as described above.
- Primary vacuum pumping procedure must have been completed.
- Target chamber Pirani gauge (MEC:TC1:GPI:01) must be below 5.0e-02 torr.
- On the striptool graph, the target chamber Pirani gauge curve should look asymptotic, meaning the primary vacuum subsystem has reached saturation.
...