A combined high-pressure reaction cell-ultrahigh vacuum chamber with sample transfer system

We have designed a high-pressure reaction cell and sample transfer system as an addition to an existing ultrahigh vacuum chamber. The system enables us to study catalytic reactions on both single crystals and polycrystalline foils over a large range of pressures from 10(-4) Torr to 1 atm. The key advantage of the setup is that the thermocouple is in direct contact with the sample, providing exact measurement of the sample temperature, while allowing transfer between two different manipulators. We demonstrate the utility of the experimental setup by monitoring oscillations in the rate of carbon monoxide oxidation over a platinum catalyst. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(98)00807-7].