A non-evaporable getter (NEG) coating was invented by C. Benvenuti (CERN) in the nineties.
A surface of vacuum chamber which is fully coated with a thin layer of NEG has two main properties: (1) it outgasses as little as possible (‘nil’ ideally), (2) it does pump, however, will not be contaminated due to a very low outgassing rate from the coated surfaces.
Since 2002, ASTeC Vacuum Solutions Group is running a programme on studying and further developing the NEG coating to meet new demanding specification for different applications. The main highlights are the following: