High Vacuum Chambers

This lecture will cover the design of high vacuum chambers with a focus on the production of optical coatings. Coating applicability to telescope design will be addressed. In this lecture, high vacuum will refer to levels below 10^-6 torr. Included topics will be the use of planetary gears at temperatures of 300°C, the incorporation of electron bean guns that can melt and evaprate materials at temperatures in excess of 3000°C and temperature controls accurate to ±1°C and the use of computers and Programmable Logic Controllers for full automation control.

Speaker Bio:

Tony Pirera founded Spectrum Thin Films in 1993, drawing upon his interest in telescopes for astronomy, an interest dating back to childhood. He was particularly intrigued by their lens' requirements for optical coatings for which fabrication requirements entail the use of high vacuum levels. Today, Tony serves in various roles as an educator and mentor, doing public speaking at many schools, clubs and colleges.

Attention Professional Engineers: An application for .2 CEU credits (equivalent to 2 PDHs) has been applied for and is pending. There will be no charge for these credits.

6:30 PM: Network with others over delicious food and soft drinks. We will be having deli heroes: American, Italian and grilled vegetable plus coleslaw, macaroni and potato salads. So, bring your appetite.

7:00 PM: Introductions, LICN announcements and presentation

Between our normal non-Meetup crowd and those on this Meetup list, we expect to have a good 40 or so people attending, so bring your business cards to share when networking.

More info about the LICN can be found at www.licn.org. Read our blog at licn.typepad.com.