Outgassing measurement of finely polished stainless steel

We have measured the outgassing rate of finely polished stainless steel using cylindrical vacuum chambers. The electrolytic abrasively polished samples had very low outgassing rates of 3×10−13 to 6×10−13 Torr l/s cm2. The rate with standard electrolytical polishing has remained around 1×10−12 Torr l/s cm2. The semiultimate outgassing species turned out to be H2 and some samples still have desorbed H2O, even with the mirror‐like polishing. Surface inspection of these samples by x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicates that the quantities of adsorbed organic hydrogen and oxygen, and surface oxides can qualitatively explain the desorption rates and desorption species of individual samples.