Proceedings Article | 5 December 2012
KEYWORDS: Cryocoolers, Infrared radiation, Neodymium, Prototyping, Aerospace engineering, Cryogenics, Technetium, Long wavelength infrared, Quantum well infrared photodetectors, Sensors
This paper reviews the recent advances in high efficiency pulse tube cryocoolers (PTCs) in SITP/CAS for space-borne
infrared applications. Due to the special aerospace environment where the power supply is limited and the rejection
condition is adverse, the high cooler efficiency is especially emphasized. A brief history of the PTC and the last 30-year
worldwide quest for highly reliable and efficient PTCs has been provided as a background. Then our efforts to achieve
high efficiency coolers are discussed. Three typical geometrical arrangements, U-type, coaxial and in-line, are all
involved, while the latter two are stressed on. Some typical development programs are introduced and a brief overview
of the relevant data package is presented. To date, the no-load temperature reaches 25 K, and the typical cooling
capacities of 0.9W@40K, 4.5W@60K, 8.0W@80K and 12W@95K have been achieved, respectively. For the mature
coaxial coolers, the typical relative Carnot efficiencies of 2.8%, 9.4%, 14.4% and 15.7% has been achieved at 40 K, 60
K, 80 K and 95 K, respectively. For the newly-developed high efficiency in-line PTCs, the corresponding values are
2.9%, 9.6%, 16.2% and 17.8%, respectively. The acquired high efficiencies have made them enabling cryocoolers for the
aimed space applications. The batch production of the main components has been realized and the typical EM machines
have been worked out.
