Investigation on activation characterization, secondary electron yield, and surface resistance of novel quinary alloy Ti–Zr–V–Hf–Cu non-evaporable getters

Abstract

The performance of next-generation particle accelerators has been adversely affected by the occurrence of electron multipacting and vacuum instabilities. Particularly, minimization of secondary electron emission (SEE) and reduction of surface resistance are two critical issues to prevent some of the phenomena such as beam instability, reduction of beam lifetime, and residual gas ionization, all of which occur as a result of these adverse effects in next-generation particle accelerators. For the first time, novel quinary alloy Ti–Zr–V–Hf–Cu non-evaporable getter (NEG) films were prepared on stainless steel substrates by using the direct current magnetron sputtering technique to reduce surface resistance and SEE yield with an efficient pumping performance. Based on the experimental findings, the surface resistance of the quinary Ti–Zr–V–Hf–Cu NEG films was established to be 6.6 × 10−7 Ω m for sample no. 1, 6.4 × 10−7 Ω m for sample no. 2, and 6.2 × 10−7 Ω m for sample no. 3. The δmax measurements recorded for Ti–Zr–V–Hf–Cu NEG films are 1.33 for sample no. 1, 1.34 for sample no. 2, and 1.35 for sample no. 3. Upon heating the Ti–Zr–V–Hf–Cu NEG film to 150 °C, the XPS spectra results indicated that there are significant changes in the chemical states of its constituent metals, Ti, Zr, V, Hf, and Cu, and these chemical state changes continued with heating at 180 °C. This implies that upon heating at 150 °C, the Ti–Zr–V–Hf–Cu NEG film becomes activated, showing that novel quinary NEG films can be effectively employed as getter pumps for generating ultra-high vacuum conditions.