Handmade precision High technology

Chemical cleaning

All surfaces have to be throughly cleaned from any dirt and product residual, in order to keep the highest vacuum level inside the tube during operation.

IAEhas an automatic washing system, software controlled, for deep degreasing, etching and cleaning of all surfaces.

It involves the use of several different cleaning agents, such as:
· detergents
· ultrasound vibrations
· acid etching
· nitrogen drying.

Assembling

Cathode and anode components are assembled in our clean rooms.

CATHODE
Resolution and quality of diagnostic image depend on the correct assembling of the filaments and the electrostatic cup. The most critical issue of this process is accuracy: the filament is welded in its position with a very small tolerance.

ANODE
The anode assembly is high technology condensed; bearings are in the high-vacuum environment of the tube and require special heat-insensitive, nonvolatile lubricants to allow safe rotation up to 10,000 rpm.
For this reason, specific designed bearings are used, with special surface treated balls, and the assembly is carefully balanced.

Glass working

Cathode and anode parts are joined by melting the two edges together on a glass lathe.

The critical points are:
· removal of strains in the glass
· alignment at the correct distance between anode and cathode

Degassing

All gases are evacuated from the tube through high vacuum turbo-molecular pumps.
The tubes are brought to temperatures higher than normal operation conditions, in order to assure all gases are removed and allow reliable performances.

IAEdevelops its own equipment for multiple degassing, optimizing quality and manufacturing cycle.

Seasoning

After degassing, the residual pressure inside the tube is lower than one billionth of standard air pressure.

Still, the tube has to be gradually seasoned, to assure optimal behaviour at higher voltages.

This critical process is performed with our special equipment which allows very high accuracy and repeatability in high voltage values.

Housing assembly

The tube housing is entirely assembled and checked by specialized operators within our facilities, granting high quality and safety standards.
Tube insert is loaded into  the tube housing, thus obtaininig a IAE brand complete diagnostic product.

Final test

The final testing consists of several inspections and checks, to verify the tube performances.

All tubes are subject to testing cycles which simulate both normal working conditions and heavy loads work.

Quality control

Further quality measurement are:

Leakage radiation: detection and compliance of housings leaked radiation in dedicated bays.

Noise level: detection and mesaurement of noise in tube inserts and housings below the acceptance levels.

Vibration level: mesaurement of tube housings vibrations in full rotator speed by accelerometers.

Focal spots size and centering: focal spot are measurement  by advanced digital instrumentations and dedicated software to detect their correct position and focalization.