Wüest M. 51 Wykes M. 82 Yamaguchi M. 17 Ybarra G. 129 Yubero F ...

JUNE 26 MONDAY MORNING
WS-18-MoM.INV.1 STANDARS AND CALIBRATIONS IN VACUUM TECHNOL-
OGY. Karl Jousten, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin, Germany.
The measurement and control of vacuum is an important condition for many industrial processes,
e.g. for the coating of glasses, of DVDs und CDs, as well as the production of hard disks, memory
chips and processors for computers. In the future it may be even possible that extreme ultraviolet
light (EUV) is used for lithography in the semiconductor industry which makes vacuum necessary
for the transport of the EUV light. The reflective mirrors will need very good vacuum conditions in
order to keep their reflectivity timely stable and to make the whole lithography process a commercial
success.
For most applications vacuum has turned into a full commodity in the past 20 years, where the buyer
has not to care about its functioning. In this scheme, traceable vacuum gauge calibrations and the establishing
of standards have become to play an important role.
Traceable vacuum gauge calibration means that the reading of a calibrated gauge can be traced to a
primary standard for vacuum pressures that ensures highest accuracy and the traceability to the
physical units of the SI. Primary standards are operated by the national metrological institutes.
In 1999 most of the states of the meter convention signed a mutual recognition arrangement, by
which calibration certificates of national metrological institutes are accepted in all these states when
some conditions are fulfilled, among them a quality management system as described in the ISO
standard 17025.
For the further dissemination of the vacuum pressure scale as well as the characterisation of vacuum
pump performance, ISO specifications and standards have been developed or are presently under development.
This talk will give a complete overview of the vacuum primary standards, the international system of
checking their validity, the scheme of the gauge calibrations down to the end user as well as making
notes on the accuracy and reliability of vacuum gauges. The international standardisation work for
vacuum technology will be described, also.
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