Basic study for electrostatic levitation system in high-vacuum condition

Requirement for levitation system in high/ultra high vacuum condition is increasing rapidly. To meet this requirement, the possibility of an electrostatic levitation system was investigated. As a principle experiment, an aluminum disk with thickness of 20 mm was electrostatically levitated in a vacuum of 1×10^-4 Pa. To improve practicality of the system, two types of more economical voltage application methods are introduced. The first one employs amplifiers and high-voltage DC power supply, and the second one employs DC power supply and amplitude-controlled AC voltage. Both methods successfully levitated the aluminum disk