Advanced Materials Research Laboratory – A Key Enabler for Rapid, Clean High-Vacuum Environments

Customer Background:
The "Frontier Materials Research Institute" is a key national scientific research unit focused on the preparation and characterization of novel semiconductor thin-film materials. Its core processes, such as Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and magnetron sputtering, require the vacuum chamber to achieve and maintain an ultra-clean high-vacuum environment better than 5×10⁻⁵ Pa in a very short time. Slow pumping speed or oil vapor contamination would directly affect thin-film growth quality and the accuracy of experimental results.

Pain Points:

Low Pumping Efficiency: The original diffusion pump system had a slow startup, taking excessively long (often several hours) to reach high vacuum from atmosphere, severely slowing down the research experiment pace and impacting project timelines.

Insufficient Vacuum Cleanliness: Traditional oil diffusion pumps carried a potential risk of backstreaming, contaminating the vacuum chamber with oil vapor. This led to high background impurities in prepared thin-film samples and distorted material property research data.

Complex System Operation: The old vacuum unit required cumbersome manual operation, needed monitoring of multiple steps, had high cooling requirements, and its stability depended heavily on operator experience, introducing risks of human error.

Equipment Compatibility and Space Constraints: Limited laboratory space required a compact system with standard interfaces (like DN100CF) for easy integration with various surface analysis equipment.

Solution:
The FJ-110 Molecular Pump Unit (Standard Pump Station) was introduced as the core high-vacuum acquisition equipment. It integrates a molecular pump and a backing mechanical pump (default RV-4), features a water-cooling/air-cooling design, and is equipped with an FD-110B controller for automated operation.

Results:

Leap in Efficiency: Thanks to its pumping speed of 110 L/s (for N₂) and fast startup characteristics, the FJ-110 unit reduced the time required to pump the chamber down to operating pressure (<5×10⁻⁵ Pa) by approximately 60%. This significantly accelerated experimental cycle times and greatly enhanced research efficiency.

Achievement of Ultra-Clean Vacuum: The molecular pump principle fundamentally avoids oil contamination. The system stably achieves an ultimate vacuum of ≤5×10⁻⁵ Pa with a very low leak rate (≤5×10⁻⁹ Pa·m³/s), providing an unprecedentedly clean environment for high-quality thin-film growth, leading to breakthrough improvements in sample quality.

Simplified Operation and Enhanced Stability: The integrated FD-110B controller enables "one-button" operation with high automation, reducing human error. The compact vertical design (500×510×840mm) saves laboratory space, and standard DN100CF inlet flange and KF25 outlet flange facilitate easy integration into existing systems.

Reliable Operation Guarantee: The water-cooling system (cooling water requirement >1 L/min, temperature ≤25℃) ensures thermal stability during long-term continuous operation, meeting the stringent reliability demands of research experiments.

Customer Testimonial:
“The FJ-110 Molecular Pump Unit has fundamentally transformed our research tempo. It acts like an efficient and reliable 'Vacuum Butler,' quickly creating an extremely clean 'workspace' for us. Now, we no longer need to worry about long pump-down times or potential contamination issues, allowing us to focus entirely on the material research itself, which is crucial for achieving innovative results.”