Electron beam technology
Encyclopedia
Free electron
s in vacuum
can be influenced by electric and magnetic field
s as to form a fine beam. At the spot of collision of the beam with the particles of the solid-state matter, most portion of the kinetic energy
of electrons is transferred into heat. The main advantage of this method is the possibility of very fast local heating, which can be precisely electronically (computer) controlled. The high concentration of power in a small volume of matter, which can be reached in this way results in very fast increase of temperature in the spot of impact causing the melting or even evaporation of any material, depending on working conditions. This makes the electron beam an excellent tool in many applications.
. This source of heat is absolutely clean, as well as the vacuum environment, so the purest materials can be produced in electron beam vacuum furnaces. For the production or refinement of rare and refractory metals
the vacuum furnaces are of smaller volume, but for steels large furnaces with capacity in metric tons and electron beam power of megawatts are operated in industrialized countries.
, tempering
, texturing,etc.
material, often by etching. It was developed for manufacturing integrated circuits, and is also used for creating nanotechnology architectures. Electron beams with diameter ranging from 2 up to hundreds nano meters, are used in electron lithographs.
The form of maskless lithography has found wide usage in photomask-making used in photolithography
, low-volume production of semiconductor
components, and research & development. The electron lithograph is also used to produce Computer Generated Holograms (CGH).
Electron
The electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...
s in vacuum
Vacuum
In everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty". A perfect vacuum would be one with no particles in it at all, which is impossible to achieve in...
can be influenced by electric and magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
s as to form a fine beam. At the spot of collision of the beam with the particles of the solid-state matter, most portion of the kinetic energy
Kinetic energy
The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...
of electrons is transferred into heat. The main advantage of this method is the possibility of very fast local heating, which can be precisely electronically (computer) controlled. The high concentration of power in a small volume of matter, which can be reached in this way results in very fast increase of temperature in the spot of impact causing the melting or even evaporation of any material, depending on working conditions. This makes the electron beam an excellent tool in many applications.
Electron beam melting
Any material can be melted by an electron beam in vacuumVacuum state
In quantum field theory, the vacuum state is the quantum state with the lowest possible energy. Generally, it contains no physical particles...
. This source of heat is absolutely clean, as well as the vacuum environment, so the purest materials can be produced in electron beam vacuum furnaces. For the production or refinement of rare and refractory metals
Refractory metals
Refractory metals are a class of metals that are extraordinarily resistant to heat and wear. The expression is mostly used in the context of materials science, metallurgy and engineering. The definition of which elements belong to this group differs...
the vacuum furnaces are of smaller volume, but for steels large furnaces with capacity in metric tons and electron beam power of megawatts are operated in industrialized countries.
Electron beam welding
The above mentioned specific advantages of electron beam heating find the widest use in welding applications. Since the beginning of electron beam welding in industrial scale (end of 1950s) a countless number of electron beam welders with working vacuum chambers volume ranging from a few liters up to hundreds cubic meters, provided with electron guns with the power up to 100 kW have been designed and are used world wide.Electron beam surface treatment
The modern electron beam welders are usually provided with computer controlled deflection system, which can position the beam very fast and accurate over the selected area of the work-piece surface. Thanks to the high speed of heating, only a thin surface layer of the material is influenced, e.g. for "hardened", annealingAnnealing
Annealing may refer to:*Annealing , a heat treatment that alters the microstructure of a material causing changes in properties such as strength and hardness and ductility*Annealing , heating a piece of glass to remove stress...
, tempering
Tempering
Tempering is a heat treatment technique for metals, alloys and glass. In steels, tempering is done to "toughen" the metal by transforming brittle martensite or bainite into a combination of ferrite and cementite or sometimes Tempered martensite...
, texturing,etc.
Electron beam additive manufacturing
Additive manufacturing is the process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually by melting powder material layer upon layer. Melting in vacuum by a computer controlled scanning electron beam is very advantageous. Electron beam direct manufacturing (DM) is the first commercially available, large-scale, fully programmable means of achieving near net shape parts.Electron beam machining
Electron-beam machining is a process where high-velocity electrons concentrated into a narrow beam with very high planar power density in the focus cross-section are directed toward the work piece, creating heat and vaporizing the material. Electron beam machining can be used for very accurate cutting or boring of a wide variety of metals. Surface finish is better and kerf width is narrower than those for other thermal cutting processes, but because the equipment acquisition costs are very high, the use of this technology is therefore limited economically.Electron beam lithography
Electron lithograph is a device in which a very fine electron beam is used to create micro-structures in the resist that can subsequently be transferred to the substrateSubstrate
Substrate may mean:*Substrate , Natural stone, masonry surface, ceramic and porcelain tiles*Substrate , the material used in the bottom of an aquarium*Substrate , the material used in the bottom of a vivarium or terrarium...
material, often by etching. It was developed for manufacturing integrated circuits, and is also used for creating nanotechnology architectures. Electron beams with diameter ranging from 2 up to hundreds nano meters, are used in electron lithographs.
The form of maskless lithography has found wide usage in photomask-making used in photolithography
Photolithography
Photolithography is a process used in microfabrication to selectively remove parts of a thin film or the bulk of a substrate. It uses light to transfer a geometric pattern from a photomask to a light-sensitive chemical "photoresist", or simply "resist," on the substrate...
, low-volume production of semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
components, and research & development. The electron lithograph is also used to produce Computer Generated Holograms (CGH).