Ultra High Vacuum Instrumentation Development Studies

Attempts at using the Spindt-type molybdenum field emitter arrays in the extractor gauge (EG) and residual gas analyzer (RGA) are presented in this paper. The sensitivity of the field emitter gauge (FEG) is as high as 11 Torr{sup {minus}1}. There is an excellent measurement linearity for FEG and the linear deviation is smaller than 10% in the pressure range of 10{sup {minus}11}--10{sup {minus}6}Torr. We achieved quite stable sensitivities for nitrogen, helium and hydrogen with the field emitter RGA (FERGA) below 10{sup {minus}7} Torr. The slightly reduced emission current and sensitivity, after long-term operation, are of concern and need to be addressed. Residual gas spectra indicate that when using field emitters, the electron stimulated desorbtion (ESD) ions (O+, F+ and Cl+) are lower than those of hot filament generated spectra