空気シンチレーションによる真空度の測定

概要

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A new type of pressure gauge has been developed by making use of the scintillation of atoms and molecules contained in a gas. The scintillation light is excited by electrons injected by an electron gun, so that the light intensity is proportional to the density of atoms and molecules. We examined the possibility of utilizing the above principle by observing the scintillation light excited by electrons of 1 KeV by means of a photomultiplier tube. The result indicated the linear relation between the pressure and the scintillation light intensity. The linearity broke down at 10-4 mmHg, mainly because of the background light due to the scintillation light from a glass tube in which a vacuum was prepared. If an electron gun of good focus is employed, our method should be applicable in a vacuum range of 10-3 to 10-7 mmHg, the lower limit being due to the dark current of a photomultiplier. Methods for further improvement are proposed.
日本真空協会の論文