A constant pressure flowmeter for extreme-high vacuum

TL;DR

This paper presents a highly sensitive constant-pressure flowmeter capable of measuring extremely low gas flows with high accuracy, suitable for applications requiring precise vacuum flow measurements.

Contribution

The authors developed and validated a novel flowmeter that accurately measures ultra-low flows down to 2×10⁻¹³ mol/s with low uncertainty, using a small conductance element and careful material selection.

Findings

Flowmeter measures flows as low as 2×10⁻¹³ mol/s.

Uncertainty of the flowmeter is less than 0.2%.

Flowmeter agrees with NIST standard within 0.5%.

Abstract

We demonstrate operation of a constant-pressure flowmeter capable of generating and accurately measuring flows as low as $2\times10^{-13}$ mol/s. Generation of such small flows is accomplished by using a small conductance element with $C\approx 50$ nL/s. Accurate measurement then requires both low outgassing materials ($<10^{-15}$ mol/s) and small volume changes ($\approx 70$ $\mu$L). We outline the present flowmeter's construction, detail its operation, and quantify its uncertainty. The type-B uncertainty is $<0.2$ % ($k=1$) over the entire operating range. In particular, we present an analysis of its hydraulic system, and quantify the shift and uncertainty due to the slightly compressible oil. Finally, we compare our flowmeter against a NIST standard flowmeter, and find agreement to within 0.5 % ($k=2$).