Vacuum applications: endless uses for the industry

Vacuum applications are continuously expanding today as a wide range of industries learn they can rely on increasingly potent and efficient vacuum pumps and structures.

Everyone in modern society is enjoying the convenience brought by vacuum technology. For example, the secret of keeping the kettle warm is that there is a vacuum space in the wall of the bottle, reducing heat conduction to keep the kettle warm; fluorescent lamps, street lamps, automotive lights are also in a vacuum, otherwise they can not emit light. Televisions, computer monitors and so on are also inseparable from vacuum. In order to improve the transmittance of light, the optical film coated on the surface of glasses, cameras and lens is also applied vacuum technology.

Nuclear industry and the study of particles

Vacuum applications in the nuclear industry allow for the creation of safe environments in which to handle sensible materials.

Research around particle acceleration, at the world-famous Hadron Collider, also relies on vacuum technology (ultra-high vacuum).

Military industry and space development

Military industry and the development of the universe are also inseparable from the vacuum. Stealth aircraft or submarines should absorb radar waves to the greatest extent so as not to be detected. Radar-absorbing materials coated on aircraft or submarines are nanoparticles obtained by vacuum technology. The development of the universe is more inseparable from the vacuum, because the universe itself is in an ultrahigh vacuum state. The materials used by spacecraft, docking technology, and astronauts’space suits are the crystallization of vacuum technology everywhere.

Metallurgy

The production of metals is also one of the main vacuum applications today. As such, it’s used in a number of processes:

1.Impregnation, providing a reliable solution to porosity in castings

2.Sintering of cutting edges

3.Thermal applications

4.Achieving a higher density of metals by degassing them

5.Eliminating particulates that can endanger working spaces

Semiconductor industry

Semiconductor industry is inseparable from vacuum technology. Production of semiconductor components.

1. it is necessary to incorporate other elements into the silicon wafer.
2. when producing integrated circuits, complex metal films and insulating films must be formed.
3. surface etching and other complex processes should be carried out. If the vacuum in the production process is not enough, there will be serious consequences after dust or oil droplets on the surface. The width of the thin wire in the IC is one-third the diameter of the smoke particles emitted when smoking, and nearly one-thousandth the diameter of a particle of dust. For integrated circuits, even a particle of smoke drops, like a large airplane parked on a highway, preventing electrons from passing through or short-circuiting.

Hyperspeed trains

Research into developing hyperspeed trains is also the result of vacuum applications. This future possibility would be based on generating the so-called “hyperloop”: a sealed-tube vacuum that reduces air resistance and can send a capsule at ultra-high speed.

Medical field  

The medical and pharmaceutical sectors also benefit from the application of vacuum technology in a number of ways. Among these, two of the most exciting vacuum applications in this field include:

1.Obtaining images following magnetic resonance (MRI) processes, which is aimed at observing soft tissues

2.Proton therapy represents an advancement from radiation therapy, directly targeting cancerous tissue in a precise and less invasive manner. This vacuum application is in need of applying a cyclotron, a high-speed accelerator for protons.