IN-VACUUM TARGET TRANSFER FACILITY

In order to transfer highly oxidizing and hygroscopic targets in-vacuu m or in controlled atmosphere and to change the target ladder without affecting the chamber vacuum, an in-vacuum target transfer system has been designed, fabricated and installed. It consists of a transfer bod y, compatible flanges with gate valves at the bell jar and the chamber . Ca, being a highly oxidizing element, was taken as a test case to st ress the utility of the in-vacuum target transfer system. Using the el astic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) technique, we could see that th ere was only 11.5% of O-2 in the target when it was transferred from t he bell jar to the scattering chamber using the in-vacuum target trans fer facility. When the target was exposed to air for 35 min the O-2 co ntent rose to 63.5 at.%.