from £4,295+VAT
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The UHV5 is a modular electrospray deposition source capable of producing a molecular beam from an electrosprayed solution at pressures typically in the 10-7 mbar range. The main difference between the UHV5 and our other sources is that the electrospray interface is contained within an inert gas environmental chamber. This has 2 key advantages: firstly, the solvent and solute is contained within the system and is either extracted into the UHV5 source or flushed through the inert gas system without entering the lab environment, and second, atmospheric contamination is minimised by controlling the gas environment around the electrosrpay interface. The other significant difference of the UHV5 is that emitter is directly contacted by the high voltage inside the inert chamber rather than a liquid junction. In many cases, the benefits of the UHV5 system more than compensate for the increased complexity of the system in terms of its opertaiton. Due to the containment of the emitter, its positioning is achieved by the pitch and yaw of the inlet flange rather than the 5-axis manipulator of the UHV4i and requires very high quality symmetric emitters (like the one supplied). Additionally, interventions such as cleaning or replacing the inlet capillary require removal of the inlet flange to gain access.
The system features a desolvation entrance capillary situated inside an inert gas chemaber, two differentially pumped molecular beam skimmers and a final differentially pumped aperture. The source can be mounted in any orientation on an available DN35CF (2.75″ CF) port of your UHV system, such as the preparation chamber of a synchrotron beamline, a UHV STM or AFM, or thin film preparation system. The UHV5 is suitable for the deposition of all molecules and nanoparticles that can be held in an electrospray compatible solution or stable suspension including carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, single molecule magnets, organometallic dye complexes, proteins, giant porphyrin nanorings, polymers and biomolecules.
The UHV5 is supplied complete with an electrospray source incorporated into the inert gas stage, a 10 ml or 5 ml syringe with connecting polymer tubing, 1 reusable stainless steel emitter, replaceable desolvation capillaries and a virtually indestructible case for easy transportation to different labs. It also comes with polymer tubing to attach the gas inlet and outlet to the cell and an air-side high voltage connector. The size of the system (see technical specifications below) means that it can be mounted to a UHV chamber just like an evaporator and aligned optically by shining a light down through the ion path to the sample. Since the UHV5 requires independent pumping it should be mounted on a gate valve so that it can be isolated from the system when not in use.
The source has 3 pumping stages plus 1 inert gas stage. The first two pumping stages are roughing stages and the third is a high vacuum stage. The pumping requirements are therefore 2 scroll or rotary pumps and a small turbo. The turbo is in most cases able to be backed by the stage 2 pump. The electrospray plume of the deposition solution is generated by applying a high-voltage to the emitter which requires a controllable high-voltage DC power supply (such as our MV5 series) up to 5kV (typically 2.5 kV). The liquid is delivered to the emitter via a gas-tight syringe which can be driven by a syring pump (available as an option) for a controlled and continuous electrospray where the flow rate can be accurately controlled for reproducible experiments.
Options
For monitoring the electrospray plume during the deposition to ensure you have good electrospray parameters (flow rate & voltage) you can add the visualizer which includes a 25X optical microscope and light source that can operated manually or with the supplied HD video camera. The UHV5 system requires the EV3 version of the visualiser as this mounts directly to the windows of the inert gas chamber.
For increased desolvation of the electrosprayed plume as it enters the vacuum system of the UHV5 you can opt for the heated inlet upgrade (see our product range), which maintains the capillary at a temperature of 100 C (also available as a retrofit for the UHV5 and legacy systems – please contact us for more details).
Stage 2 can be pumped by the same pump that backs the stage 3 turbo in most cases. Our coupling tee and bellows can be used to connect these two pumping lines to a single backing pump.
Technical specifications of the UHV5
Dimensions: approx 33 x 10 x 10 cm
Pressures & pumping:
Stage 1: 1 x 100 mbar (Scroll or rotary >100 lmin-1)
Stage 2: 1 x 10-1 mbar (Scroll or rotary >100 lmin-1*)
Stage 3: 1 x 10-4 mbar (Turbo >70 ls-1)
Stage 4: 5 x 10-8 mbar (up to 5 x 10-7 mbar during spraying depending on solvent and flow rate – base pressure also depends on main system pumping)
*Stage 2 can be pumped by the Stage 3 turbo backing pump using a suitable connection.
Working distance: tested up to 50 cm from final aperture (no minimum working distance) Emitter voltage: 1.0 kV to 3.5 kV typical
Deposition rate: pA range ion current measured at the sample position (typically corresponding to <1 mL min -1)
Mounting: DN35CF (2.75″ CF) any orientation (preferably via gate valve)