Thermal design and verification of an instrument cooling system for infrared detectors utiliziing the Oxford Stirling cycle refrigerator

Stephen Werrett; Alfred L. Seivold

doi:10.1117/12.21739

1 September 1990 Thermal design and verification of an instrument cooling system for infrared detectors utiliziing the Oxford Stirling cycle refrigerator

Stephen Werrett, Alfred L. Seivold

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Proceedings Volume 1308, Infrared Detectors and Focal Plane Arrays; (1990) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.21739
Event: 1990 Technical Symposium on Optics, Electro-Optics, and Sensors, 1990, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

The Improved Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder (ISAMS) employs two Oxford Stirling cycle refrigerators to cool eight infrared (6 MCT, 2 InSb) detectors to 80 — 100 Kelvin. Techniques to minimize heat loads on the displacer cold tip and attached cold stage conductor include unique radiation and conduction isolation designs. The designs of the cold stage conductor and detector mounts are coaxial so that all cold parts are loaded both radiatively and conductively only to an intermediate temperature. The outer stage of the detector cooling system is radiatively cooled to approximately 200 Kelvin by a recessed cold patch. This arrangement reduces total heat loads on each displacer cold tip to less than 700 milliwatts. Heaters are provided to de-gas the low emittance gold coatings if they become contaminated. A detailed nodal computer model was developed to thermally represent the hardware and sensitivity studies were performed to evaluate design parameters and orbital environmental effects. Thermal-vacuum testing at the Oxford Clarendon Laboratory showed excellent performance of the system and a correspondence with math model predictions to within 3 Kelvin. The ISAMS will be launched aboard the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) in 1991 .Its objectives include: measurement of the thermal structure of the atmosphere and its fluctuations in space and with season; investigation of the photochemistry of nitrogen-containing species; determination of the water vapor budget of the upper atmosphere. These objectives will be addressed by measurements of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, nitrogen dioxide, di-nitrogen pentoxide, nitric acid, ozone, water vapor, methane, and carbon monoxide.

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Stephen Werrett and Alfred L. Seivold "Thermal design and verification of an instrument cooling system for infrared detectors utiliziing the Oxford Stirling cycle refrigerator", Proc. SPIE 1308, Infrared Detectors and Focal Plane Arrays, (1 September 1990); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.21739

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KEYWORDS

Sensors

Infrared detectors

Cooling systems

Thermal modeling

Infrared sensors

Mathematical modeling

Copper

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