A versatile and reliably reusable ultrahigh vacuum viewport

Weatherill, K.J. and Pritchard, D. and Griffin, P.F. and Dammalapati, U. and Adams, C.S. and Riis, E. (2009) A versatile and reliably reusable ultrahigh vacuum viewport. Review of Scientific Instruments, 80 (2). 026105-026105-3. ISSN 0034-6748

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Abstract

We present a viewport for use in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) based upon the preflattened solder seal design presented in earlier work [Cox , Rev. Sci. Instrum. 74, 3185 (2003)]. The design features significant modifications to improve long term performance. The windows have been leak tested to less than 10(-10) atm cm(3)/s. From atom number measurements in an optical dipole trap loaded from a vapor cell magneto-optical trap inside a vacuum chamber accommodating these viewports, we measure a trap lifetime of 9.5 s suggesting a pressure of around 10(-10) Torr limited by background rubidium vapor pressure. We also present a simplified design where the UHV seal is made directly to a vacuum pipe.

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