Patent ID: 7425712

Claim:
A method of operating liquid in a vacuum or low-pressure environment and observing the operation, said method comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a housing, said housing having a plurality of spacers partitioning off an interior space of the housing into a liquid chamber, at least one vapor chamber formed outside said liquid chamber, and at least one buffer chamber formed outside said vapor chamber, said liquid chamber containing a liquid specimen, each of said spacers located respectively above and below said liquid chamber having a vapor aperture, each of said spacers located respectively above and below said vapor chamber having an inner aperture, the inner apertures being located respectively above and below said vapor apertures, said housing having two outer apertures formed respectively on its top and bottom sides, said vapor apertures are coaxial with said inner and outer apertures, and said housing has a gas inlet corresponding to said vapor chamber and a pumping port corresponding to said buffer chamber; (b) putting said housing in the vacuum or low-pressure environment and keeping a predetermined temperature difference between said liquid, vapor, and buffer chambers; (c) infusing vapor through said gas inlet into said vapor chamber and controlling the vapor pressure inside said vapor chamber smaller than or equal to the saturated vapor pressure of said liquid specimen inside said liquid chamber to prevent the liquid inside said liquid chamber from volatilization out of said vapor apertures and to keep the liquid in a specific amount in said liquid chamber without loss absolutely or easily; meanwhile, the vapor inside said vapor chamber slowly exhausting through said inner apertures into said buffer chamber; and (d) evacuating said buffer chamber through said pumping ports at a predetermined rate to pump out the vapor exhausted through said inner apertures into said buffer chamber and to prevent the vapor from leaking through said outer apertures out of said housing; whereby operating liquid in the vacuum or low-pressure environment is achieved.