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Preface

In 2000 the Dutch Vacuum Society NEVAC published our "Basisboek Vacuümtechniek" (BBVT) for the benefit of the vacuum technology courses offered under the auspices of NEVAC. The content not only successfully supported lectures on vacuum technology at universities and colleges, but also provided a solution for the need of an extended Dutch-language reference work. Without exaggeration we may state that the book has since become a standard work in the fields of vacuum physics and technology. After two reprints in 2003 and 2008, it is justified to speak of a "Dutch bestseller". This was not unexpected, because the book contains a wealth of information presented in a clear and concise way.
As Dutch universities and high tech industries are more and more populated by PhD students in physics and chemistry from foreign countries and highly skilled foreign employees, the requirement of an English translation arose. In addition, there was a growing call from home and abroad to produce an English language book suited for world-wide distribution. Thus, the seed of an idea for a translation was born. The subsequent road map to the English version of our book was however a long and difficult one. Not only did the translation of such a specialist technical work give several expected and unexpected problems for Dutch authors, but, in addition, after more than a decennium the book needed a serious revision and update. For example, recent developments in vacuum pump design in answer to demanding physical problems, like within the semiconductor manufacturing industry, were missing. Furthermore, substantial updates were necessary in the field of (partial) pressure measurement, leak detection and cleaning and working discipline.
As a result, the English version 'Vacuum Science and Technology' (VST) presented here covers all the currently relevant vacuum topics and can really be classified as a contemporary book in the field of vacuum physics and technology.
In order to get an impression of how the book has been updated to current state of the art, a brief overview is given of the main innovations with respect to the Dutch version of 2000.
The large chapter 4 about pumps and pumping systems contains some major changes and significant innovations with respect to the Dutch book. First of all, we added a separate paragraph about compression. Furthermore, the chapter is extended with attention to the multi-stage Roots pump, which in the past decade has rapidly developed into a valuable alternative to the claw pump and is able to discharge to atmospheric pressure. In the paragraph about the claw pump, new insights are incorporated about the use of an integrated combination of Roots and claw stages. Concerning the screw pump, attention is paid to the tapered pitch as a solution to reduce the heat generated by isochoric compression. The section 'Molecular pumps' is extended with a paragraph on the combination 'Molecular drag pump (MDP) + side channel pump', consisting of a Holweck type molecular drag pump and a multiple stage miniature type of side channel blower. This pump combination appears to be able to discharge against atmospheric pressure. The required knowledge regarding the side channel blower is added as a separate paragraph to the section 'Dry rotary pumps'. The section 'Sputter-ion pumps' is supplemented with information on the so-called 'Galaxy' and 'StarCell' cathode structures to increase the pumping speed for noble gases.
Chapter 5, which deals with total pressure measurement, is extended with the quartz crystal friction pressure gauge and a Bourdon variant with electronic readout.
In the overview on ion sources in chapter 6, about partial pressure measurement and gas analysis, the axial and gas tight ion sources are added. The section on the quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) is provided with a short piece about a special focusing method whereby electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) can be identified and suppressed. Furthermore, the chapter includes a section on the autoresonant trap mass spectrometer (ARTMS). The expectation is that this residual gas analyzer (RGA) is going to be a serious competitor of the QMS in the pressure range 10-3 - 10-9 Pa. The setup of the section 'spectrum analysis' has changed substantially, while error rates get more attention.
The layout of chapter 8 about leak detection has been completely revised. As concerned to helium leak detectors, the emphasis has moved to the counterflow principle. The maximum achievable sensitivity of counterflow leak detectors has become comparable with that of main flow detectors in the past decade. This circumstance, added to the user-friendliness of counterflow detectors, has now meant that main flow detectors are no longer commercially available. Two inside-out leak detection methods are added, namely the atmosphere method and the bombing method. In a separate paragraph a quantitative analysis of the sensitivities of both methods and their usefulness in specific circumstances is discussed. The arsenal of available leak detection instruments has been extended with multigas sniffer systems (e.g. infrared leak detector), the hydrogen leak detector and the quartz window sensor.
In Chapter 10, about material selection, lubrication, cleaning and working discipline, the section 'Cleaning procedures' has been adapted to the changed views in this area and more focused on complete vacuum systems.
By keeping the overall framework of the Dutch book, VST can not only be considered as an excellent reference book, but is also a unique double-level textbook for both high and middle graduates. Text meant for high graduates is placed behind margin lines. Omitting this text gives a clearly structured textbook for middle graduates. Both with and without the margin texts the volume shows the desired internal coherence for the associated training level. Several chapters are provided with exercises, divided in two levels of difficulty. Exercises with/without asterisk are appropriate respectively for high and medium graduates. Short answers have been added at the end of the book. The "two books in one" format makes the work perfectly suited for self-study and (combined) high and medium level trainings. A multi-level training approach will be particularly useful in the common case of a group of course participants with a wide range of (academic and medium) preparation and/or experience.

After publication of the 1st edition hardcover in february 2016, the E-book version has been supplemented or amended on some points. A substantial update is the inclusion of all fully worked solutions to the chapter exercises. This to further enhance the book's quality as an excellent course manual with his unique integrated two-level setup.
A noteworthy addition to chapter 5 'Pressure measurement' concerns a new type of ionization gauge, based on the Bayard-Alpert design: the so-called "Belt Bent-Beam" (3B) gauge. A brand new concept, in terms of objective akin to the classic extractor gauge: Keep the gauge ion collector as far away as possible from all radiation and desorption effects. The X-ray limit of the 3B-gauge is in the low 10^-12 Pa range. This extremely low limit is achieved through a combination of material choice (low heat radiation and outgassing) and a smart geometry (low flux of soft X-rays and ESD in the collector area).
Furthermore, the number of pressure zones below 1 atmosphere has been expanded from four to five. In more recent vacuum literature and advertisements from vacuum manufacturers, for the sake of distinction and convenience, in line with the well-known ultra-high vacuum pressure range 10^-4 - 10^-7 Pa, the term "extreme high vacuum" (XHV) is increasingly used to denote the pressure range below 10^-7 Pa. We've the whole book conformed to this additional vacuum terminology; see figure 5.1.

The authors would like to respond to criticism (comments) by some official reviewers and respondents to the 1st edition regarding the lack of literature references in the book. On this point they hold a clear opinion: although their decision to not include references in VST may perhaps slightly affect its value as a reference book, they nevertheless believe this disadvantage does not outweigh the advantage of a textbook where the flow of reading is not disturbed by excessive well-intended references. Furthermore, in the authors' opinion online facilities meanwhile guarantee an inexhaustible, ever-renewing and growing source of information for those who want to "dig deeper" into a specific subject. For example, the free encyclopedia Wikipedia.org offers up-to-date information and literature references on nearly all vacuum topics. Viewed in this light, it seems reasonable to argue that including references becomes less essential.
Attentive readers will also note that source references are missing for a lot of the graphs, drawings and illustrations. For clarity and as accountability, it's therefore worthwhile mentioning that in more than half of all figures the authors themselves acted as sources with measurements, graphs, etc. obtained in their own research. Sources of approximately
40% of the figures are unfortunately no longer traceable. They were initially used in our earlier Dutch books and lecture notes and originate from scientific papers, books and catalogs of around the mid-last century when vacuum technology was still being practiced with scientific ambitions by a relatively small "inner circle" of fellow scientists. Undoubtedly the use of these figures at that time would informally be agreed, but written agreements have unfortunately been lost or even may never have been made. All more recent figures (about 10%) are provided with a source acknowledgement.

The authors are indebted to Dick van Langeveld for his valuable contribution to the new set-up of the section on spectrum analysis in chapter 6, useful discussions on various relevant topics (piezo electricity, equations of motion of the quartz crystal in a quartz crystal friction gauge) and initiating useful contacts of various kinds. Our thanks also goes to Dr Masahiro Hirata (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan) for useful email correspondence concerning the physics of a quartz crystal friction gauge. We express our gratitude to Harold Zandvliet (University Twente, Enschede, NL) for critically reading section 8.9.2 dealing with the hydrogen leak detector. His comments have contributed significantly to our understanding of the physics of this detector. We are very grateful to Norbert Koster (TNO Science and Industry, Semiconductor Equipment, Delft, NL) and Peter van der Heijden (VDL Enabling Technologies Group, Eindhoven, NL) for their contributions to the update of the section on cleaning in chapter 10. For incorporating the ceramic bead blasting cleaning technique in chapter 10, the information in the prospectus 'Ceramic bead blasting of stainless steel' from Vecom, a company based in Maassluis, NL, was very helpful to us. We wish in addition express our gratitude to several representatives of vacuum companies for their permission to reproduce many illustrations and/or their substantial comments on a number of relevant parts of the text: Dr Falk Braunschweig, Mark Fierloos and Ron van Vossen (Alcatel Vacuum Technology), Dr Sherm Rutherford (Duniway Stockroom Corporation), Harry Nagel and David Schijve (Edwards Vacuum), Sjors Kruidenberg (Elmo-Rietschle), Dr Armin Conrad and Pieter Heidema (Pfeiffer Vacuum), Dipl-Phys Werner Große Bley (Inficon), Dirk Pootjes (Demaco - Granville Pillips), Joost Hommel (Paroscientific) and Sam Kishikawa (XHV products - Tokyo Electronics Japan).
Gratitude is also expressed to those who have contributed to the content without specific reference or acknowledgement.
Special thanks are due to Sam Jimenez for his excellent book review. He really has managed, using his own words, "To aim for language that is grammatically 100% correct but which sounds slightly international, which is what I tend to find when I read published literature from non-native speakers. It could always be rewritten in more depth to make it sound like it was completely written by a British English speaker but I think that it would take away from the fact that it is a collection of Dutch expertise". This wise view and all his help as a reviewer have undoubtedly contributed to the confidence of the authors in their aim to come to a valuable English translation of their Dutch book.

'Vacuum Science and Technology' is a joint publication of 'The High Tech Institute' (professional education in high tech and leadership) and 'Settels Savenije Van Amelsvoort' (innovation projects), Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The authors wish to express their appreciation to John Settels and René Raaijmakers, the managing directors, for making this possible.

The Dutch Vacuum Society NEVAC awards the book her quality mark 'Under the auspices of NEVAC', thus giving appropriate content to one of its key objectives, namely the dissemination of knowledge in the field of vacuum science and technology.

Peize (NL) Bert Suurmeijer
Harmelen (NL) Theo Mulder
Kockengen (NL) Jan Verhoeven

Autumn 2015, updated January 2023 ×