Design
Each design must consider thermal, electric field, electron trajectory, potentials and currents to develop a practical initial solution
Original Design Case Study
Vacuum Electronics
Vacuum electronics is less widely used now than in the past, but it still has critical relevance in certain fields such as accelerators, X-ray sources, ion sources and so on. Our client is active in these fields.
Four Steps
Vacuum Components
Component design needs to follow a managed process in order to deliver to the required specifications.
Modelling
Computer modelling is used to refine the design to achieve the required product specification
Process
Process design is developed in parallel with modelling to ensure that practical processes can be used to manufacture the component
Prototype
Prototyping involves component build as well as validation and verification analysis to ensure that the component will function over its lifetime as expected.
Designing For A Long Life.
The design is for a critical component that must have long lifetime and stable performance while operating with low power consumption.
1,000,000 hour operating lifetime. The component is designed for exceptionally long life in its operating environment.
0.5 W power consumption. The component runs at very low operating power consistent with client requirements.
Combining Knowledge.
Vacuum electronics is a specialist field at the cross-over between physics, chemistry, materials science and electrical engineering. It is a field in which know-how and experience counts as much as scientific knowledge.
For this program, the product design was produced using Solidworks 3D mechanical CAD with simulation using CST Studio. Process equipment was developed with a combination of vacuum systems, welding devices, laser cutting equipment, furnaces and other dedicated fixtures and tooling to deliver the end product.
As with all vacuum devices, cleanliness is critical to program success and so much of the manufacturing process development is targeted to cleanroom operation. Cleaning and component preparation steps support introduction of sub-components into the cleanroom environment.