Patent ID: 8658004

Claim:
A vapor barrier vacuum isolation system comprising: a collimated beam source positioned within a vacuum chamber that is evacuated to a first pressure level, the collimated beam source being adapted to generate one of an ion beam and an electron beam; a supply of a condensable barrier gas; a supply of cooling material; first and second isolation chambers each in fluid communication with the barrier gas and each including a respective cooling coil configured to receive the cooling material, wherein the temperature of the cooling material within each of the first cooling coil and the second cooling coil is below the freezing point of the condensable barrier gas, wherein the isolation chambers are cooled by the cooling material to thereby freeze the barrier gas as the barrier gas passes through the isolation chambers, and wherein a respective pressure level of each of the first and second isolation chambers is substantially greater than the first pressure level in the vacuum chamber; a working chamber coupled with the first isolation chamber and having a pressure level higher than that of the vacuum chamber and each of the first and second isolation chambers; a series of coaxially-aligned orifices connecting the working chamber, each of the isolation chambers, and the vacuum chamber, wherein each orifice of the series of coaxially-aligned orifices is also coaxially-aligned with an axis of the collimated beam; and a pump adapted to evacuate any uncondensed residual amounts of the barrier gas after the barrier gas has passed through each of the isolation chambers; wherein the system is configured to allow the barrier gas to: pass as a flowing sheet past a first orifice of the series of coaxially-aligned orifices to prevent atmospheric gasses from passing from the working chamber into the isolation chambers; and to undergo a supersonic flow expansion upon entering each of the isolation chambers.