A turbomolecular pump is a type of vacuum pump, superficially similar to a turbopump, used to obtain and maintain high vacuum. These pumps work on the principle that gas molecules can be given momentum in a desired direction by repeated collision with a moving solid surface. In a turbomolecular pump, a rapidly spinning fan rotor 'hits' gas molecules from the inlet of the pump towards the exhaust in order to create or maintain a vacuum.
Interior view of a turbomolecular pump
A turbomolecular pump with attached vacuum ionization gauge for pressure measurement.
The turbomolecular pump from ICP-MS instrument Varia.
A vacuum pump is a type of pump device that draws gas particles from a sealed volume in order to leave behind a partial vacuum. The first vacuum pump was invented in 1650 by Otto von Guericke, and was preceded by the suction pump, which dates to antiquity.
Student of Smolny Institute Catherine Molchanova with vacuum pump, by Dmitry Levitzky, 1776
A cutaway view of a turbomolecular high vacuum pump