A reactive metal such as titanium, a zirconium alloy or barium that pumps active gases (hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, CO, CO2 and water) by forming stable compounds or dissolving them. It can be evaporated as a fresh film, as in titanium sublimation pumps or the barium flash in a sealed tube, or used as a bulk non-evaporable getter that is activated by heating. Getters do not pump noble gases and pump methane only weakly, so they are paired with an ion pump or turbo.
Pressure in the sealed sensor package is holding because the getter's soaking up the hydrogen.
Also heard as
- getter pump
Related terms
NEG
Non-evaporable getter: a porous alloy that pumps active gases once it has been activated by heating in vacuum.
TSP
Titanium sublimation pump: a heated titanium filament that coats nearby walls with a fresh gettering film.
Ion pump
Capture pump that ionizes gas in a high-voltage magnetic discharge and buries the ions in titanium.
Cryopump
Capture pump that freezes and adsorbs gas onto surfaces cooled to about 10 to 20 K by a closed-cycle refrigerator.