A Throttle Butterfly Valve, also known as a variable conductance valve or metering valve, is designed to precisely regulate gas flow within vacuum systems. Unlike an on/off isolation valve, this valve enables fine-tuned conductance control to maintain accurate chamber pressure and optimize pumping speed.

MDC Precision’s Heated Throttle Butterfly Valve seamlessly integrates with NEMA23 motors for precision control and consistent performance. The integrated internal heater ensures uniform temperature to minimize condensation and particle buildup. The compact and modular design allows easy motor pairing and automation system integration, ideal for semiconductor, ALD, and advanced manufacturing environments. It ensures thermal efficiency, pressure stability, and long-term reliability, enhancing system uptime and productivity.

Key Features and Benefits

Enhanced Conductance: Redesigned valve body enlarges port diameters to meet industry flange limits for maximum throughput.
Durable Construction: Features low outgassing stainless steel internals with solid Type 304 stainless steel surfaces.
Reliable Sealing: Double O-ring stem seal eliminates vacuum leakage.
Heated Operation: Integrated cartridge heaters with optional thermocouples and position indicators for accurate control and monitoring.
Flexible Configurations: Available with Conflat® (CF) or ISO Kwik-Flange™ (KF) terminations for compatibility across systems.
Manual & Motorized Options: Includes manual aluminum handle or motorized NEMA23 assembly for automated vacuum control.
High Vacuum Stability: Optimized for 10⁻⁵ to 10⁻³ Torr operation range, providing precise throttling for sputtering, etching, and evaporation processes.
Protection & Safety: Limits pressure surges, safeguards turbomolecular pumps, and allows soft pump-down and venting operations.

Industry Applications

The MDC Precision Throttle Butterfly Valve is widely used in semiconductor processing, atomic layer deposition (ALD), thin-film coating, surface analysis, and vacuum metallurgy. It provides controlled pressure environments for reactive gas dosing, sputtering, etching, and load-lock systems. In research laboratories, it supports differential pumping, mass spectrometry, and electron microscopy applications where precision vacuum control ensures repeatable and contamination-free results.