Vacuum and Ultravacuum ─ Physics and Technology

Vacuum technology has enormous impact on human life in many aspects and fields: metallurgy, material development and production, the food and electronic industry, microelectronics, macroelectronics, device fabrication, physics, materials science, space science, engineering, chemistry (vacuum distillation), technology of low temperature, the pharmaceutical industry, and biology. All decorative coatings used in jewelries and various daily products including shiny decorative papers, the surface finish of watches, and light fixtures are made using vacuum technological processes. Vacuum techniques and technologies are pillars of the technological processes, material synthesis, deposition, and analytical techniques—all of which are in fact used in the development of novel materials, increasing the value of industrial products, controlling the technological processes, and ensuring the high product quality. Based on physical models and calculated examples, the book provides a deeper look inside the vacuum physics and technology for university students, lecturers, instructors, and professional engineers in diverse fields of industry, engineering, and science.

I. Bello is a Chair Professor at the dynamically developing Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), one of the top Chinese nanomaterial centers, and College of Nano Science and Technology (CNST), the Soochow University, China. He was Professor in Physics and Materials Science at the City University of Hong Kong. He is a founding core member of the Center of Super Diamond and Advanced Films (COSDAF) and the Advanced Coatings Applied Research Laboratory (ACARL) in Hong Kong. He was Adjunct Professor in Condense Matters, Adjunct Professor in Materials Engineering, Surface Science Western, at the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; where he also was an Industrial Consultant. His earlier position was Associate Professor at the Microelectronic Department of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. He also was a Vice Chairman of the Czechoslovak Expert Assembly for Vacuum Technology and Applications (Prague). He obtained the competitive Leverhulme Trust Fellowship, British Research Council (the University of Salford, England). He earned PhD and Masters in microelectronics, focusing on the technology of device fabrication particularly ion implantation and plasma processes. Professor Bello’s research interest involves nanomaterials, thin films, particularly diamond, cubic boron nitride, and related materials, semiconducting nanomaterials and photovoltaic and light emitting devices. He designs and builds analytical and technological vacuum deposition and ion beam systems. He has published approximately 380 articles—from which 259 are SCI-listed journal papers (h-factor: 46, non-selfcitation: over 30 per article). He holds 12 patents (10 US). Professor Bello has lectured 17 courses at the listed universities, mostly in thin films, advanced materials characterization, vacuum technology, physics, plasma physics, electronics, and molecular physics.