Miniature penning cell array for on-chip vacuum pumping

This paper presents a miniaturized Penning cell array for on-chip sputter-ion vacuum pumping. The effects of miniaturization on pumping performance - including cut-off magnetic flux, pumping rate, and minimum operating pressure - are examined. The pump is experimentally shown to reduce pressure by 600 mTorr (80 Pa) from a starting pressure of 18 Torr (2.4 kPa) in 30 minutes of operation. The rate of molecular removal is typically 3-15 × 10¹³ molecules per second. The architecture allows device operation at pressures at least as low as 70 mTorr (9.3 Pa), representing an improvement of two orders of magnitude over previously reported micro-sputter-ion pumps.