A new primary standard for the realization of vacuum pressures between 10 -10 Pa and 3 ϫ 10 -2 Pa has been completed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). It is based on the continuous expansion method, whereby the range is extended to lower pressures by the use of a flow divider. In this flow divider, the gas flow from the fully automated flowmeter with throughputs ranging from 10 -6 Pa l/s up to 3 Pa l/s (at 23 C) is directed via two differently sized orifices into two chambers: the XHV calibration chamber, which is designed for calibration pressures 10 -10 Pa to 10 -4 Pa, takes up 1 % of the flow, while the UHV calibration chamber, which is designed for pressures 10 -8 Pa to 3 ϫ 10 -2 Pa, takes up 99 % of the flow. Both calibration chambers are operated with cryopumps during calibration. The relative standard uncertainties of pressures generated by this new standard range from 7 ϫ 10 -3 at 10 -10 Pa, when a perfectly stable residual pressure is assumed, to 2 ϫ 10 -3 at 10 -4 Pa.
Calibration pressures in the high- and ultrahigh-vacuum range are conveniently generated by the expansion of gas in a continuous flow. The design and the performance of a new continuous (often called dynamic) expansion standard and a partly computer-controlled flowmeter are reported. Pressures are generated from 10−6 to 10−2 Pa with uncertainties (2σ, linear addition of individual uncertainties) between 1% and 4%. A comparison with a static expansion standard was carried out and showed good conformity between the two standards.
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