By Phil Danielson
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By Phil Danielson
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The Physical Basis of Ultrahigh Vacuum This book is one of the AVS Classic Reprint Series. The series is dedicated to the concept that books on vacuum technology written when the practice and understanding of vacuum technology was going through a period of “growing pains” contain a good deal of useful and basic knowledge that is often glossed over in more modern books. Since these basics are too important to ignore, these older and out-of-print books have been reprinted in order to make more of this basic and priceless information more easily accessible to today’s vacuum practitioners. This book falls into the multi-author category, but it is written as one collective author instead of each author writing a specific section. Written at a time when ultrahigh vacuum wasn’t yet an everyday technology with off-the-shelf components being easily available, it includes not only the theoretical and mathematical understanding of the interaction and behavior of molecules, charged particles, and surfaces interacting, but also reaches into the problems of measuring pressure in UHV along with the really practical understanding of pumps, hardware, and materials. Many of these practical concepts are now fairly standardized and accepted without a full understanding of why and how they became that way. In a practical sense, many of the various sorts of hardware, etc., which are described here were not commercially available at the time of writing and needed to be self-designed if required. The authors, then, have provided a wealth of basic material and information in terms and depth that are not easily available in today’s books. Choosing or using components without a full understanding of their basic design and performance points can easily lead to technological disaster. This point is especially true when an engineer attempts to redesign a component for what seem to be such good reasons and which make it easier or cheaper to manufacture without consulting that component’s history and conceptualizing why it was designed that way in the first place. The basics of molecular interaction and charged particle behavior haven’t changed in time. It’s true that some aspects have become slightly better understood in recent years, but there’s really no practical alternative to reaching down through the basics to gain the understanding of what’s really happening within an UHV system. The rapid growth of surface science in recent years still depends upon these basics. This is the best place to gain that understanding although a mathematical workout is required. Since this book also falls into the special area of interest category, namely UHV, it presupposes a basic understanding of vacuum technology from atmospheric pressure to high-vacuum. This obviously means that it’s not for beginners or neophytes. You won’t find one more description of how an oil-sealed mechanical pump works or anything else on that level. Instead, you’ll find a deep and rigorous explanation of the complex happenings and problems in reaching and maintaining UHV levels. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone working in UHV since the information is so basic to the everyday UHV technology of today. It’s age is not to be sniffed at because the authors managed to bring all the information together in a massive work that is still as useful and vibrant as it was at the time of writing. The AVS chose well when it included this book in the Classic Reprint Series. It’s timeless. |
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