Extremely Miniaturized, Turbomolecular Pump-Based Vacuum System

NASA and commercial industry both have a pressing need for miniaturized high vacuum pumps. Recent advances in sensor technology at NASA laboratories have led to the development of very small mass spectrometer detectors as well as other instruments such as scanning electronic microscopes. However, the vacuum systems to support these sensors remain large, heavy, and power hungry. To meet this need, Creare proposes to build an extremely miniaturized vacuum system based on a very small turbomolecular pump. While smaller than a D-cell battery, the turbomolecular pump has performance that is well matched to the needs of miniature analytical instruments. Such a pump represents an order-of-magnitude reduction in mass and volume over the current state-of-the-art, as represented by another Creare designed and built turbomolecular pump. The new pump will form the heart of a complete vacuum system optimized to support analytical instruments in terrestrial applications and on spacecraft and planetary landers.