Refillable Foreline Trap for Oil Backstreaming [includes:10407F-AB(1), VM10/2(2) & VM30/1(1)]

All rotary vane (e.g. mechanical) pumps when pumping out a diffusion pump or some other instrument such as a sputter coater, plasma etcher, or plasma cleaner, will exhibit a certain amount of "backstreaming" of the oil vapors into the vacuum line toward the volume being pumped out. And even though the vacuum pumps might be the best that can be made, and since this backsteaming of vapors is not zero, there is the potential for such vapors to be disruptive on the volume being pumped out. When the rotary vane pump is being used to pump a diffusion pump, such backsteaming vapors, once in with the diffusion pump fluid will adversely affect the performance of the diffusion pump and thereby degrate the ultimate characteristics of the vacuum system. Backsteaming vapors into a sputter coater could negatively effect the quality of the coating being deposited on important samples. And such vapors could negatively effect the performance of a plasma etcher. 

Therefore for the best results, we recomment the installation of a foreline trap. 

There are different kinds of foreline pumps:
There is the foreline trap described above designed specifically to prevent or certainly minimize any backstreaming of vapors from the oil in a mechanical pump. But there is another kind of pump that is designed to keep corrosive or otherwise harmful vapors from the chamber being evacuated from coming in contact with the pump and causing possible damage or corrosion. This kind of pump is considerably more expensive and is not presently offered by SPI Supplies. 

We recommend the use of the foreline trap in conjunction with the SPI Plasma Cleaner and at times, with both the SPI Module™ Sputter Coater and, SPI "Plasma Prep™ II" Plasma Cleaner.