It is difficult to generate and maintain the vacuum level in vacuum MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) devices. Currently, there is still no single method or device capable of generating and maintaining the desired vacuum level in a vacuum device for a long time. This paper proposed a new wide-pressure-range miniature ion source, which can be applied to a vacuum micropump. The miniature ion source consists only of silicon electrodes and a glass substrate. Its operating pressure range covers seven orders of magnitude, starting from atmospheric pressure, a promising solution to the difficulty. Based on the principle of gas discharge, the ion source features a simple two-electrode structure with a two-stage electrode spacing, operating under DC voltage excitation. The first-stage electrode spacing of the ion source is small enough to ensure that it starts working at atmospheric pressure down to a certain reduced pressure when it automatically switches to discharge at the larger second-stage electrode spacing and operates from that pressure down to a high vacuum. Two configurations of the ion source have been tested: without-magnet, operating from atmospheric pressure down to 1 mbar; and with-magnet, operating from atmospheric pressure to 10−4 mbar, which covers seven orders of magnitude of pressure. The ion source can be applied not only to a MEMS ion pump to meet demands of a variety of vacuum MEMS devices, but can also be applied to other devices, such as vacuum microgauges and mass spectrometers.
Operation features of the pulse penning ion source in the transition pressure range