H2 Equilibrium Pressure with a Neg-Coated Vacuum Chamber as a Function of Temperature and H2 Concentration

Non Evaporable Getter (NEG) coating is used in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) room-temperature sections to ensure a low residual gas pressure for its properties of distributed pumping, low outgassing and desorption under particle bombardment; and to limit or cure electron cloud build-up due to its low secondary electron emission. In certain regions of the LHC, and in particular close to the beam collimators, the temperature of the vacuum chamber is expected to rise due to energy deposition from particle losses. Hydrogen molecules are pumped by the NEG via dissociation on the surface, sorption at the superficial sites and diffusion into the NEG bulk. In the case of hydrogen, the sorption is thermally reversible, causing the dissociation pressure to increase with NEG temperature and amount of H2 pumped. Measurements were carried out on a stainless steel chamber coated with TiZrV NEG as a function of the H2 concentration and the chamber temperature, to estimate the residual gas pressure in the collimator regions for various LHC operation scenarios, corresponding to different particle loss rates and times between NEG regenerations. The results are presented in this paper and discussed.