Vacuum Compatibility of Silver and Titanium Parts Made Using Three-Dimensional Printing

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has many advantages over conventional machining techniques, and it is particularly well suited for rapid production of prototypes. This Shop Note reports pump-down curves for a small ultrahigh-vacuum chamber loaded with 3D-printed silver and titanium parts. Neither material showed any measurable adverse affect on the ultimate base pressure achieved, which was approximately 5 x 10(-10) Torr. 3D-printed metals can therefore be considered suitable for select ultrahigh-vacuum applications. (C) 2014 American Vacuum Society.