Electrical Feedthroughs for Your UHV
Electrical feedthroughs (or high-powered feedthroughs) transmit voltage or current into your high or ultra high vacuum environment. They are necessary for a number of scientific—we’re looking at you SpaceX!— and industrial applications.
But when you need electrical feedthroughs for your UHV, how do you know that the manufacturer you’re working with is offering you the best?
What makes electrical feedthrough Manufacturer X better or worse than Manufacturer Y?
What should you want in a producer of electrical feedthroughs?
But most companies offer these capabilities. What else is critical when it comes to your buying feedthroughs?
We’ll walk you through 6 things to look for in your purchase of electrical feedthroughs for your UHV.
How You Know You’re Dealing with the Best in an Electrical Feedthrough Manufacturer?
#1. They Are Willing to Explore Solutions
Is your manufacturer willing to create sales drawings before they close the deal?
When you’re dealing with a manufacturer who cares about your solution—and not just your money—they should be eager to work with you to create PDF or Solid Model Sales Drawings.
3D modeling shows you how your UHV system will work with your new components.
Some manufacturers are willing to develop Sales Drawings for low volume orders, concepts, and to discuss possible solutions without hassle.
Others wait until after you complete your order to send you their Sales Drawings.
#2. They Are Experts in Ceramic-to-Metal Sealing
In nearly every case where you’re adding components, such as electrical feedthroughs, to create high vacuum environments, you need to make sure they’re hermetically sealed to make a completely airtight system.
When you’re looking for the best electrical feedthroughs, you want a company with expertise in Hermetic Ceramic-to-Metal Bonding.
Ceramic-to-metal bonding creates an airtight seal. The analogy we like to give is that ceramic bonds to metal like a hungry bear eating a sandwich. The seals shouldn’t sit on the metal, but bite down into it greedily to give you an airtight, perfectly hermetic seal.
Just as a sandwich becomes bonded to a bear’s mouth (maybe this isn’t the perfect analogy after all), the seals on your UHV components need to be completely, utterly, and hermetically bonded.
We have a seasoned team of engineers with extensive ceramic-to-metal design experience.
#3. They Have a Large Catalog and Inventory of Items
We don’t mean to brag—well, we do mean to brag a little—but MPF has more than 2,200 components for UHV environments ready to order.
When it comes to electrical feedthroughs, we have standard designs in materials such as copper, nickel, molybdenum, stainless steel and much, much more.
How many pins do you need in your electrical feedthroughs?
MPF has you covered.
We offer between 500-10,000 volts of power in all our standard designs. But better yet, our inventory is in stock and ready to ship to you in a hardshell clam case as soon as you place your order.
When you’re in the market for electrical feedthroughs, you want a manufacturer that has a large inventory and catalog.
#4. They Have the In-House Tools for Manufacturing of Electrical Feedthroughs
Many of the best manufacturers of UHV electrical feedthroughs and other components for your vacuum environment have their own Brazing Ovens and TIG Welding Stations.
This allows manufacturers of vacuum components ease of maintenance, ease of creation, ease of expansion for greater capacity, and ease of use.
It makes things easy with a capital “E.”
At MPF, we build all of our standard and custom components in-house, which means that you don’t have to wait for outside vendors who can slow down the process of your receiving components necessary to your vacuum system.
AND, we have the best in-house engineers and designers for all your UHV components.
#5. They Have the Ability to Thoroughly Test Your Electrical Feedthroughs
How can you be sure that the electrical feedthrough you purchased through your chosen manufacturer is hermetic and airtight?
One word: TESTING.
The second-most abundant element on Earth, as we’re sure you’re aware, is helium. Helium also has one of the smallest radii of all elements at 140pm. If helium isn’t leaking through the hermetic seals on the components on your UHV system, nothing is leaking through.
Enter our Helium Mass Spectrometer Leakage Detector. We nicknamed him “Wonderboy” because he is able to detect leaks at <1×10-9 atm cc/sec, and even beyond this.
-9 and -10: no problem we say.
So, if you need to know that the electrical feedthrough you’re mounting to your vacuum chamber is 100% leak proof, footloose, and fancy free, you want to choose a manufacturer with access to a Helium Mass Spectrometer Leakage Detector.
You want a vacuum vessel components’ company that spends the time and money testing your electric feedthroughs.
#6 They Have the Raw Components to Customize
There are times when you’ll need an electrical feedthrough manufacturer who possesses the ability to let you test a component to see if it works.
But if your manufacturer doesn’t have a large inventory of raw materials, how can they customize a component for you?
Let’s say you’re about to place a big order: you need to know if it will work.
At MPF, we can manufacture an electrical feedthrough (or any other component) that you can try out in your vacuum system. This is a big plus for organizations who need multiple electrical feedthroughs for their UHV environments.
So Where Should I Buy My Electrical Feedthroughs
We would think the answer should be obvious by now, but in case you weren’t paying attention: You should buy your electrical feedthroughs through MPF.
We have:
- The willingness and ability to create Sales Drawings for you before you place an order
- The best engineers in Ceramic-to-Metal Bonding technology
- One of the largest catalogs of UHV electrical feedthroughs
- The designing and manufacturing ability to create all our components in-house
- The best testing protocols for leakage and more
- The raw components to build electric feedthroughs for you to test
Reach out to one of our expert sales reps to learn about what MPF can do for you!
