A Flange-Type Standard Leak Element And Its Vacuum Applications

A previous article [C.K. Chan et al., Vacuum 180, 109650 (2020)] described a gasket-type standard leak element (SLE) that could be employed to solve the problem of serious outgassing and the constraint of a low baking temperature (<120 degrees C) caused by the use of an epoxy resin sealant (Torr Seal (R)) on a sealing interface. Here, we propose a leak element of a new type using femtosecond laser micromachining to drill a microscale channel on a double-sided ConFlat (CF) flange. Not only is the flange-type SLE reusable but also its performance is as effective as that of a gasket-type SLE. This useful device can be widely applied to many vacuum technologies and applications, which are also described in this paper.