METHOD FOR TRACKING THE DEGASSING RATE BY MEASURING PARTIAL PRESSURES MEASURED BY MASS SPECTROMETRY

摘要

A method for following the degassing of a component placed in a vacuum chamber, comprises: measuring partial pressures Pi for a set M of reference atomic masses, by means of a mass spectrometer connected to the vacuum chamber; determining a degassing rate , at least as a function of the measured partial pressures Pi; and, calculating a slope of the variation in the degassing rate. The degassing rate may advantageously be determined by calculation by means of a relationship of the type: = i M   i  P i i = 0 N   i  P i where M denotes the set of reference atomic masses, Pi denotes the partial pressures for the atomic masses measured by the mass spectrometer, the coefficients i denote preset weighting coefficients associated with each partial pressure Pi, and N denotes a maximum atomic mass for which the partial pressure Pi can be measured by the mass spectrometer.