Metal vapor confinement in vacuum

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Abstract
A new method for confining a metal vapor at a pressure of about 10−3 Torr, with extremely low loss of metal into the vacuum chamber surrounding the metal cell, has been demonstrated; it consists in recycling the metal, condensed in the liquid state; its return to the high pressure region is ensured by capillarity. Two versions of the new cell, built for different applications, are described: a heat pipe heated lithium cell, characterized by a high uniformity of temperature, and a cesium cell, equipped with a surface ionization gauge for cesium pressure measurement, and a LiF window. Measurements carried out with the surface ionization gauge in the cesium cell led to a ratio 103 between the cesium atom flux at the center of the canal and at its port. The contribution of direct metal loss from the hot central region of the canal and that due to desorption from the canal ports is discussed.