COOLING MECHANISMS FOR SHAFT COUPLED TO A ROTARY SEAL

摘要

The present invention provides a rotating shaft that can extend between two regions having different ambient pressures. The rota ting shaft can include a rotatable hollow outer shell that is coupled to a proximal portion of an inner shaft with a limited number of contact points. A plurality of thermal breaks disposed between the inner shaft and the hollow outer shell impede heat transfer between these two components. A rotary seal coupled to the distal portion of the inner shaft preserves the pressure differentialbetween the two regions. Further, a heat sink removes heat tr ansferred to the seal to ensure that the temperature of the seal remains within a range suitable for its operation. The rotating shaft of the invention can be utilized, for example, in an ion implantation system by the coupling of the outer shell to a wafer holder to position and orient a wafer in a path of an ion beam.