http://lppfusion.com/ff-1-moves-toward-goldilocks-bake-out/
Quite surprised and disappointed to read that after all these decades of refinement, the best focus fusion devices today are held together by soft plastic that degrades under gentle heating. I thought FoFu1 was made out of metal – highly durable metal. I might not be a PhD in focus fusion, but I can tell ya this for nowt : You can’t make your fusion devices out of soft plastics such as PVC and Mylar.
It makes no sense which ever way I look at it. Try this way :
All that time spent ordering an extremely specialized tungsten cathode…. yet not upgrading from soft plastics. That’s like ordering a gearbox made out of diamond and metallic-glass-composite for a car with paper wheels.
I would have expected Lawrenceville to rip out the mylar as soon as it caused the current problem and replace it with a better plastic. But instead you’re talking about dropping the temperature of the bake out, so that replacement mylar sheets won’t be damaged ?
Why is the mylar so precious that you have to keep it at all costs ( in this instance, to the detriment of a vital oxide bake out ), while even the centerpiece extremely specialized tungsten cathode is inherently earmarked for retirement.
You say you are using mylar sheets as an electrical insulator, well I think nearly all plastics are good electrical insulators. Can’t you use a plastic with better heat resistance, e.g. a Polyetherimide or Polyamide-imide plastic?
” if any apparatus isn’t fit for the exercise, upgrade the appartus, but if the mylar isn’t fit for the excercise, downgrade the exercise “