Titanium sublimation pump, a set of titanium-molybdenum filaments heated with about 40 to 50 A so titanium evaporates onto a surrounding shroud, often cooled by water or liquid nitrogen. The fresh film pumps active gases at very high speed until it saturates, so a filament is fired periodically, more often at higher pressure. It sits beside an ion pump to handle hydrogen and bursts of active gas.
Fire the TSP for a minute every four hours until we're back below 1E-10, then once a day is plenty.
Also heard as
- Ti-sub
- titanium sublimation pump
- sublimator
Related terms
Getter
Reactive material that removes gas from a vacuum by binding it chemically to a fresh metal surface.
Ion pump
Capture pump that ionizes gas in a high-voltage magnetic discharge and buries the ions in titanium.
UHV
Ultra-high vacuum: pressures below about 10⁻⁷ mbar, reached only with baked, metal-sealed systems.