Transfer Engineering and Manufacturing, Inc.

Transfer Engineering and Manufacturing, Inc. a leading supplier of custom sample transfer, positioning, and conditioning systems for a variety of sciences and applications, frequently integrates standard MDC components or custom chambers into their designs to meet specific customers requirements.

NREL (National Renewable Energy Labs) contracted TE to develop a custom, portable UHV system with an integrated elevator for the storage and transport of multiple substrates under vacuum, between the deposition and analysis chambers. The system operates in a large cleanroom where multiple deposition systems coat the substrates, which are then transferred into a portable pod. The transfer pod is then repositioned up against a variety of surface analysis tools in order to evaluate the films being produced.

MDC was integral in providing the wide range of components needed for the system including valves, viewports, adapter flanges, hardware, and the custom vacuum chamber and lower baseplate assembly which are the main vacuum housing. Critical chamber mounting features allow for the “floating” of the system, enabling ease of integration into the various systems that were mated as part of the chamber design.

Universal Cryogenics

Universal Cryogenics, an Industry leader in the manufacture of custom cryogenic cooling instruments was looking to solve, during the early development of their closed cycle cryostat, the issue of the isolation of the cryo-cooler vibrations transferred into the instruments’ cold working region.

Working in unison with the MDC engineering team, a custom welded bellows in combination with rubber soft mounts was developed and the successful solution was incorporated. The unique feature of the welded bellows design is ISO 160 as the vacuum seal interface at each end. This allows the cryo-cooler to be mounted in any clocking orientation. To rotate the cryo-cooler relative to the dewar at any time, a simple release of the vacuum, loosening of the hardware and rotation of the cryo-cooler is is all that’s needed. All Universal Cryogenics closed cycle cryostats are now fitted with the new welded bellows assembly.