Motivating fluid vacuum pump

Abstract

The invention relates to a driving agent vacuum pump used in microsystems technology, comprising an evaporator chamber and a pump chamber that are separated by a jet arrangement. The design of the driving agent vacuum pump is improved by: a planar arrangement of at least one jet, which extends vertically in depth and which is situated between two, in particular, parallel plates, these plates closing the evaporator chamber and the pump chamber; an opening in the pump chamber, preferably above the jet arrangement, for drawing in a medium to be pumped, and; an opening for expelling a preferably compressed gas underneath the jet arrangement.

1 . A driving agent vacuum pump, especially of microsystem technique, comprising; an evaporation chamber and a pumping chamber, which are separated by a jet arrangement; a planar arrangement of at least one jet running obliquely, preferably vertically, in depth between two, especially parallel, plates, with the plates covering the evaporation chamber and the pumping chamber, and by an opening in the pumping chamber preferably above the jet arrangement, for taking in an agent to be pumped and by an opening for driving out a, preferably compressed, gas below the jet arrangement, said driving agent vacuum pump further including a heater, preferably in the form of an electrically heated coil arranged in the evaporation chamber.  
   
   
       2 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one jet is formed as a Laval jet.  
   
   
       3 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 1 , wherein the jet arrangement has several jets.  
   
   
       4 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 1 , wherein the driving agent is at least one of a condensable medium, a gaseous medium and a liquid.  
   
   
       5 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 1 , wherein the driving agent is delivered into the evaporation chamber as a gas.  
   
   
       6 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 1 , wherein the pumping chamber is provided with cooling.  
   
   
       7 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 6 , wherein the cooling includes channels or cooling ribs.  
   
   
       8 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 6 , wherein the cooling is formed by at least one Peltier element.  
   
   
       9 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 1 , wherein between the evaporation chamber and the pumping chamber is a connection through which a condensed driving agent is returned.  
   
   
       10 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 9 , wherein the connection is formed capillarily.  
   
   
       11 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 9 , wherein the capillaries are covered by a layer having a higher outer surface energy than the pumping chamber to control the return flow of the driving agent.  
   
   
       12 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 1 , wherein a pressure sensor for monitoring the pumping function in the pumping chamber, said pressure sensor being integrated into the pump and located in at least one of the pump input, the pump output and in the evaporating chamber.  
   
   
       13 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 12 , wherein the pressure sensor measures pressure using a Pirani arrangement preferably integrated into the microsystem.  
   
   
       14 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 1 , further including a flow measurement for determining the vacuum performance, the flow measurement being provided, in at least one of the vacuum intake region and the output region.  
   
   
       15 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 14 , wherein the flow measurement is made using a heated wire principle, preferably integrated into the microsystem.  
   
   
       16 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 1 , further including at least one particle filter for reducing contamination, the particle filter being located in at least one of the jet supply channels, the evaporation chamber and the delivery and exhaust channels at the input and output.  
   
   
       17 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 1 , wherein the pump is made of three substrates.  
   
   
       18 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 17 , wherein a middle substrate consists of a silicon substrate, preferably structured according to an anisotropic plasma etching method, and in that two side substrates are made of glass, preferably anodically bonded.  
   
   
       19 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 18 , wherein the middle substrate is made of a metal structure, preferably galvanically finished.  
   
   
       20 . A driving agent vacuum pump according to  claim 19 , wherein the middle substrate is galvanically washed onto a lower glass substrate and has an upper glass substrate as a closure.