JP3058653B2 - Automatic starter circuit device for spatter ion pump - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic starting circuit of a sputter ion pump used for generating a high vacuum, an ultra-high vacuum, and an ultra-high vacuum in an accelerator, a nuclear fusion experimental device, and the like. It concerns the device.

[Prior art] By the way, the conventional sputter ion pump is usually started from a high pressure region using a large capacity power supply.
Therefore, the AC power supply is stepped up by a high-voltage transformer, and a DC set voltage is obtained by a voltage doubler full-wave rectifier circuit.

The present applicant has previously filed Japanese Patent No. 1340297 (Japanese Patent Publication No.
Publication), an automatic start circuit device for a sputter ion pump in which the operation from the start of the pump to the steady operation is automated is proposed. The automatic starting circuit device proposed earlier includes a timer circuit for setting the energizing time at the time of starting the anode of the sputter ion pump to be started from the power supply circuit according to the sputter ion pump starting command signal, The output signal of the timer circuit and the voltage detection circuit for detecting whether the applied output voltage is equal to or higher than a preset value, and the output signal of the timer circuit during the timed output of the timer circuit is equal to or higher than the set value. And a circuit for setting the protection function of the sputter ion pump to a movable state and setting the power supply circuit to an off state when the output voltage is equal to or lower than a set value.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, the conventional sputter ion pump is started by using a large-capacity power supply and continuously applying it from a high pressure region. In this case, the gas released from the pump element is mainly water-hydrocarbon-based, and eventually the inside of the pump is filled with these polluting gas components and decomposition products, and as a result, it is considered that the electrode (cell) is contaminated. . Therefore, depending on the history of the pump and the state of the vacuum vessel in which the pump is installed, this is one reason that the ultimate pressure does not decrease.

Also, in the conventional method of starting the sputter ion pump,
Since it is necessary to design a power supply so that a large output short-circuit current can be obtained, a large-capacity power supply is used. Therefore, the power supply becomes large and heavy, and as a result, there is a problem in handling the power supply such as transportation and movement.

Further, in the conventional apparatus, it is necessary to design several kinds of power supplies according to the type of the sputter ion pump.

Therefore, the present invention can solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional one, reduce the ultimate pressure of the sputter ion pump, generate an extremely high vacuum, and extend the life of the sputter ion pump body, and An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic starting circuit device for a sputter ion pump which can be used commonly for various types of sputter ion pumps.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object, an automatic starting circuit device for a sputter ion pump according to the present invention comprises a sputter ion pump to be started from a power supply circuit in response to a sputter ion pump starting command signal. A timer circuit for setting the energization time T ₀ at startup, a voltage detection circuit for detecting whether the output voltage V applied to the sputter ion pump is equal to or higher than a preset value V ₀ , a current detection circuit output current a which is to detect whether a value a ₀ or a preset, timer circuit, the output signal of the voltage detection circuit and the current detection circuit, the output voltage at the time of the output limit of the timer circuit V
Is greater than or equal to the set value V ₀ and the output current A is less than or equal to the preset value A ₀ , the protection function of the sputter ion pump is set to a movable state, and when the output voltage V is greater than or equal to the set value V ₀ When the output current A is equal to or greater than the preset value A ₀ and the output voltage V is equal to or less than the set value V ₀ and when the time T measured by the start-up timer circuit is equal to or longer than the set time T ₀ , the output voltage V There setpoint V ₀ or less or output current A
There has been characterized as having a circuit for setting a power supply circuit to the off state in a state where the value A ₀ or a preset.

[Operation] In the automatic starting circuit device of the sputter ion pump according to the present invention configured as described above, the timer circuit, the voltage detecting circuit, and the current detecting circuit are operated by the sputter ion pump starting command signal, and the timer circuit outputs the timed output. protection of sputter ion pump is set to the movable state when the output current a of the output voltage V is not less set value greater than or equal _to V ₀ Furthermore current detection circuit of the voltage detecting circuit is the value a ₀ following a preset. When the output voltage V of the voltage detection circuit is equal to or higher than the set value V ₀ and the output current A of the current detection circuit is equal to or higher than the preset value A ₀ , the output voltage V of the voltage detection circuit becomes equal to or lower than the set value V _0. When this happens, the power supply circuit is set to the off state. Furthermore, when the time T measured by the timer circuit is equal to or longer than the set time T ₀ at startup, when the output voltage V of the voltage detection circuit is equal to or less than the set value V ₀ or when the output current A of the current detection circuit is a predetermined value. The power supply circuit is also set to the off state when it is _{equal to} or greater than A0.

As described above, since the starting condition is determined based on the output current in addition to the two factors of the time and the voltage performed by the previously proposed apparatus, the pressure of the sputter ion pump is detected and the set point of the pressure is determined. Can be set.
As a result, the starting pressure range of the sputter ion pump was 10 ^-2
It can be operated only in the high vacuum, ultra-high vacuum, and ultra-high vacuum regions of ^10-4 Pa or less.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a configuration of an automatic starting circuit device for a sputter ion pump according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a pump starting command signal input, and this pump starting command signal input 1 is a control signal. It is connected to the inputs of the timer circuit 3 and the condition determination circuit 4 in the circuit section 2. The control circuit unit 2 includes a display circuit 5 in addition to the timer circuit 3 and the condition determination circuit 4, and the display circuit 5 is connected to an output of the condition determination circuit 4. The timer circuit 3 starts time measurement in response to the pump start command signal from the pump start command signal input 1, and the timer circuit 3 determines whether the time, that is, the start time T has reached a preset start set time T ₀ , is a condition. It is configured to supply the data to the determination circuit 4.

The output of the condition determination circuit 4 is connected to a circuit protection device 7 and an output control device 8 of an operation power supply unit 6, and the operation power supply unit 6 is further provided with a voltage detection circuit 9 and a current detection circuit 10. The output of the power control 8 is connected to a sputter ion pump 11 of any suitable type to be activated. The outputs of the voltage detection circuit 9 and the current detection circuit 10 are respectively connected to the inputs of the condition determination circuit 4 in the control circuit section 2, and the output voltage from the voltage detection circuit 9, that is, the signal relating to the anode voltage V of the sputter ion pump 11 and the current detection Circuit 10
Is supplied to the condition determination circuit 4. The condition determination circuit 4 receives the pump start command signal input 1
Is activated by a pump start command signal from the timer circuit 3 to determine a combination of a signal related to the start time T from the timer circuit 3, a signal related to the output voltage V from the voltage detection circuit 9, and a signal related to the output current A from the current detection circuit 10. Is configured.

The circuit protection device 7 in the operation power supply unit 6 functions to protect the sputter ion pump 11 and the power supply from accidents during automatic operation, and is activated by a command signal from the condition determination circuit 4. The output control device 8 in the operation power supply unit 6 is operated by a command signal from the condition determination circuit 4,
Electric power is supplied to the sputter ion pump 11.

Next, the operation of the circuit device shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

In order to start the sputter ion pump 11, when a pump start command signal is supplied to the inputs of the timer circuit 3 and the condition determination circuit 4 in the control circuit unit 2 via the pump start command signal input 1, the timer circuit 3 and the condition The discriminating circuit 4 is activated, that is, the timer circuit 3 starts counting time and supplies the counted elapsed time T to the condition discriminating circuit 4. On the other hand, the voltage detection circuit 9 detects what level the output voltage V is at with respect to the set value V ₀ , and the current detection circuit 10 detects the output current A
Is at what level relative to the set value A ₀ ,
These detection signals are supplied to the condition determination circuit 4.

If the elapsed time T measured by the timer circuit 3 is less than the set start time T ₀ , that is, T <T ₀ , the output voltage V of the voltage detection circuit 9 is equal to or more than the set value V ₀ , that is, V ≧ V ₀
By and moreover the value A ₀ output current A is preset in the current detection circuit 10 or less, that condition determining circuit 4 when it is A <A ₀
Supplies a command signal to the output control device 8 to supply starting power to the sputter ion pump 11. Also, a condition determination circuit 4
Supplies a command signal to the circuit protection device 7, sets the protection function of the sputter ion pump to a movable state, and causes the display circuit 5 to display the completion of startup. In this case, even if V exceeds V ₀ , if V <V _{0 in} the state of A ≧ A ₀ , the pump is set to the off state, that is, the pump stop state.

On the other hand, when the elapsed time T measured by the timer circuit 3 exceeds the activation set time T ₀ , that is, when T ≧ T ₀ ,
If V ≧ V ₀ , starting power is supplied to the sputter ion pump 11 via the output control device 8. However, when V <V ₀ or A ≧ A ₀ , the condition determination circuit 4 in the control circuit unit 2 supplies a pump stop command signal to the output control device 8 in the operation power supply unit 6, and the power supply of the sputter ion pump 11 is controlled. The circuit is set to the off state, and the display circuit 5 displays a start failure. In this case, if the pump start command signal is again input to the timer circuit 3 and the condition determination circuit 4 in the control circuit unit 2 via the pump start command signal input 1, the device is reset and can be restarted.

By the way, the configuration of the electrode (cell) of the sputter ion pump differs depending on the model, and the discharge current (I) / pressure (P) is determined. For example, in the case of a sputter ion pump of N ₂ and 160 / sec, the I / P is 2400. In the automatic start-up circuit device according to the present invention, the power supply body can be configured to be compatible with all sputter ion pump I / Ps, whereby meter adjustment of each type of sputter ion pump can be performed only by switching the volume. .

FIG. 3 shows an example of the operation power supply unit 6. AC 100 V or AC 200 V from the AC input 12 is subjected to a double voltage full-wave rectification by a rectification / smoothing circuit 14 via a noise filter 13 and smoothed.
High-speed switching is performed by a switching circuit 15 composed of a power FET and sent to a pulse transformer 16. The output voltage of the pulse transformer 16 is 4 times rectified by 17 and high voltage output
A DC 7.5 kV output can be obtained at 18. If the output current is going to flow over a predetermined value, for example, about 20 mA, the control circuit 20 controls the gate pulse width of the power FET 15 to be narrow by the voltage and the signal from the current detection unit 19 to lower the output voltage. The operation is controlled so that the current becomes constant, that is, a constant current drooping characteristic is obtained. Note that the voltage and current detection in the current detection unit 19 is controlled so that a constant current characteristic is obtained by inserting a resistor in the ground line of the output and processing the voltage generated at both ends thereof. The voltage is divided by a high-voltage resistor, and a voltage reduced to, for example, about 5 V is processed so as to be controlled to have a constant voltage characteristic.

[Results of the Invention] As described above, in the automatic activation circuit device for a sputter ion pump according to the present invention, a current detection circuit for detecting the output current A supplied to the anode of the sputter ion pump is provided, Since the pressure of the sputter ion pump is known and the set point of the pressure can be set, the starting pressure range of the sputter ion pump can be set to a high vacuum of 10 ^-2 to 10 ^-4 Pa or less, ultra-high vacuum, It can be operated only in the vacuum area and requires less output short-circuit current. Therefore, there is no need to use a conventional large-capacity power supply, that is, a large linkage transformer, and the power supply body is downsized (volume ratio 1/6 or less). Light weight (less than 1/10 weight ratio)
It is possible to do. As a result, the apparatus can be advantageously used for a device that frequently uses a sputter ion pump, for example, an accelerator, a nuclear fusion device, etc., requires a small control panel area, and can easily mount the power supply body.

In addition, conventionally, different types of power sources were used depending on the difference in the exhaust capacity of the sputter ion pump and the model.
The automatic starting circuit device of the sputter ion pump according to the present invention can be used regardless of the type of the sputter ion pump, and provides a very wide versatility.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an automatic starting circuit device of a sputter ion pump according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation, and FIG. 3 is a block line showing an example of an operation power supply unit of the automatic starting circuit device. FIG. In the figure 1: Pump start command signal input 2: Control circuit section 3: Timer circuit 4: Condition determination circuit 5: Display circuit 6: Operation power supply section 7: Circuit protection device 8: Output control device 9: Voltage detection circuit 10: Current Detection circuit 11: Sputter ion pump

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A and timer circuit for setting an energization time T ₀ at start of sputter ion pump to be started from the power supply circuit in accordance with the sputter ion pump start command signal, the output voltage V applied to the sputter ion pump in advance a voltage detection circuit for detecting whether a set value greater than or equal _to V _0, a current detection circuit output current a supplied to the sputter ion pump is detected whether a value a ₀ or more set in advance, According to the output signals of the timer circuit, the voltage detection circuit, and the current detection circuit, the output voltage V at the timed output of the timer circuit is equal to or more than the set value V ₀ and the output current A is a preset value.
In the state A is ₀ or less, the protective function of the sputter ion pump is set to the movable state, when the value A ₀ or the output current A is preset when the output voltage V is the set value V ₀ or addition output voltage V Is less than or equal to the set value V ₀ and when the time T measured by the start-up timer circuit is equal to or longer than the set time T ₀ , the output voltage V is equal to or less than the set value V ₀ or the output current A is a preset value A ₀ And a circuit for setting a power supply circuit to an off state in the above state. An automatic start circuit device for a sputter ion pump.