Cryogenics and its Space Applications

1. INTRODUCTION TO CRYOGENICS
Cryogenics is the study of how to get to low temperatures and of how
materials behave when they get there. Besides the familiar temperature scales
of Fahrenheit and Celsius (Centigrade), cryogenicists use other temperature
scales, the elvin and !an"ine temperature scale. Although the apparatus used
for spacecraft is speciali#ed, some of the general approaches are the same as
used in everyday life. Cryogenics involves the study of low temperatures from
about $%% elvin to absolute #ero.
&ne interesting feature of materials at low temperatures is that the air
condenses into a li'uid. (he two main gases in air are o)ygen and nitrogen.
*i'uid o)ygen, +lo)+ for short, is used in roc"et propulsion. *i'uid nitrogen is
used as a coolant. ,elium, which is much rarer than o)ygen or nitrogen, is
also used as a coolant. -n more detail, cryogenics is the study of how to
produce low temperatures or also the study of what happens to materials when
you have cooled them down.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
2. CRYOGENICS IN SPACE
Cryogenics is the study of low temperatures, from about $%% elvin
(./0% Fahrenheit) down to absolute #ero. -n more detail, cryogenics is1
the study of how to produce low temperatures2
the study of what happens to materials when you3ve cooled them down.
-f you3re new to cryogenics, chec" out our -ntroduction to Cryogenics
page.
Cryogenics is not1
the study of free#ing and reviving people, called +cryonics+, a
confusingly similar term.
Some Uses of Cryogenics
Astronomers at the 4oddard Space Flight Center are always wor"ing
to develop ever more sensitive sensors to catch even the wea"est signals
reaching us from the stars. 5any of these sensors must be cooled well below
room temperature to have the necessary sensitivity. ,ere are some e)amples
of how cooling helps1
-nfrared Sensors1 infrared rays, also called +heat rays+ are given off by all
warm ob6ects. -nfrared telescopes must be cold so that their own
radiation doesn3t swamp the wea" infrared signals from faraway
astronomical ob6ects. (here will be infrared telescopes on the airborne
infrared observatory S&F-A, the Stratospheric &bservatory for -nfrared
Astronomy.
7lectronics1 all sensors re'uire electronics. Cooling electronics reduces
the noise in the circuits and thus allows them to study wea"er signals.
8.rays1 the sensors for 8!S, the 8.!ay Spectrometer measure
temperature changes induced by incoming ).rays. 9hen the sensors are
colder, the induced temperature changes are larger and easier to measure.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
3. CONCEPT OF ASO!UTE "ERO
Absolute #ero, according to current scientific thought, is the lowest
temperature that could ever be. -n fact, it:s so low that we can never 'uite
reach it, although research teams have come within a fraction of a degree. So
if we can never get there, how do we "now it:s really there;
(he first clue to the e)istence of absolute #ero came from the
e)pansion and contraction of gasses. 9e "now that hot air rises and cold air
falls. Air rises when it:s heated because it e)pands, so it:s less dense than the
cooler air around it. -t has buoyancy, 6ust li"e a piece of wood in a pond,
which floats because it:s less dense than the water. Air sin"s when it cools
because it contracts, so it:s denser than the warmer air around it.
Suppose we too" a certain amount of air and cooled it as much as we
could. ,ow much would it shrin"; 9hen scientists first began studying the
behavior of of heated and cooled gasses, they didn:t have our modern cooling
methods. (hey measured as best they could over the temperature range that
they could reach. (hen they plotted their data on graphs.
(he graph of volume vs. temperature for a sample of gas forms a
straight line. ((his assumes that you "eep the pressure constant.) (he lower
the temperature, the lower the volume. -f you e)tend this line to low enough
temperatures, it will eventually hit #ero volume. Scientists noticed that, for all
gasses, the temperature at which the graph said they would reach #ero volume
was about ./<= Celsius (about .>?% Fahrenheit).
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
(his temperature became "nown as absolute #ero, and is today the
#ero for the elvin and !an"ine temperature scales. @owadays, we "now that
gasses do not shrin" to #ero volume when cooled to absolute #ero, because
they condense into li'uids at higher temperatures. ,owever, absolute #ero
remains one of the basic concepts in cryogenics to this day.
Although nothing can be colder than absolute #ero, there are a few
physical systems that can have what are called negative absolute temperatures.
&ddly enough, such systems are hotter than some with positive temperaturesA
Neg#$i%e A&so'($e Tem)er#$(res
Are there negative absolute temperatures; (his is an answer yet to be
rec"oned with. Bhysicists have defined a negative absolute temperature, but
it:s a bit fla"ey, for these reasons1
it only applies to certain physical systems (those with a small number
of energy levels),
negative temperatures are hotter than (some) positive temperatures,
A system with a negative temperature will eventually cool down (or
warm up, depending on how you loo" at it) to a positive temperature,
even if it is insulated perfectly from its surroundings.
,ere:s a bit more detail. Certain physical systems have small set of
energy levels that they can be in. For e)ample, a laser uses this principle. (he
atoms (or molecules) that produce the lasing effect can be in one of a number
of energy states. @ormally, only a small percentage of the atoms are in the
highest energy states2 many more are in the low energy states. Scientists have
found e'uations that describe how many of the atoms are in which energy
state. As you might imagine, these e'uations depend on temperature. (he
hotter the system, the more atoms are in the higher energy state. -n fact, if you
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
"now what fraction of the atoms are in each energy state, you can plug that
into the e'uation and solve for the temperature. A laser operates by pumping
energy into the atoms, pushing many of them into the high energy states.
9hen the atoms drop bac" into the lower energy states, they give off the
energy as a beam of laser light. But between the time they get pumped up and
the time they drop bac", they:re in an abnormal state, with lots more atoms
than normal in the high energy state. -f you plug this abnormal distribution
into the e'uation and solve for temperature, you may get a negative number.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
*. CRYOGENIC !I+UIDS
*i'uid air sounds li"e a contradiction in terms. -n fact, it3s not1 air,
when cooled enough, condenses into a li'uid and even free#es solid. 9e3re
familiar with this phenomenon in the case of water1 steam condenses to li'uid
water which free#es to ice. &r, to put it the other way, ice melts to form water
at % Centigrade and boils to produce steam at $%% Centigrade. ((hese
temperatures change as the pressure changes. At high altitudes, for e)ample,
water boils at a lower temperature because of the lower air pressure.) Carbon
dio)ide is another familiar e)ample of a gas that free#es1 it can be cooled and
fro#en as +dry ice+.
All gases, when cooled, condense. (wo gases often used in their
li'uid forms are nitrogen and helium. (hese are the commonly used cryogenic
li'uids. @itrogen gas, when cooled, condenses at .$DC.0 Celsius (<<.=?
elvin) and free#es at ./%D.0? Celsius (?=.$< elvin.) &r, to reverse the order,
solid nitrogen melts to form li'uid nitrogen at ?=.$< elvin, which boils at
<<.=? elvin. *i'uid nitrogen is used in many cryogenic cooling systems.
*i'uid helium boils at ./?0.D= Centigrade (>./ elvin). ,elium does
not free#e at atmospheric pressure. &nly at pressures above /% times
atmospheric will solid helium form. *i'uid helium, because of its low boiling
point, is used in many cryogenic systems when temperatures below the boiling
point of nitrogen are needed.
Cryogenicists tal" about various "inds of helium. (hey distinguish
between the two naturally occurring isotopes, helium = and helium >. ,elium
> ma"es up over DDE of naturally occurring helium. ,ence, when we spea" of
+helium+, without specifying which isotope, we3re usually spea"ing of helium
>. ,elium >3s nucleus consists of two protons and two neutrons, for an atomic
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
weight of >.,elium =, the rarer isotope, has a nucleus of two protons and one
neutron. ,elium = boils at =./ elvin. (his boiling point is one degree colder
than that of helium >. Both helium > and helium = can be cooled to below
their boiling temperatures by reducing the pressure to below atmospheric
pressure. *i'uid helium, li"e water, boils at a lower temperature when the
pressure is lower. -n fact, when li'uid helium is "ept in containers that are at
atmospheric pressure, the helium temperature changes as atmospheric high
and low pressure areas pass. (hese temperature changes are small, but
measurable. 9ith vacuum pumps, we can reduce the pressure in a helium
container much more than happens with normal atmospheric pressure changes.
As a practical matter, a pumped bath of li'uid helium > can be used to cool
down to about $ elvin. A pumped bath of li'uid helium = can be used to cool
down to about %.= elvin
A convenient way to cool many "inds of apparatus is to submerge
them in li'uid helium or li'uid nitrogen. *i'uid helium and nitrogen are
usually stored in vacuum insulated flas"s, called Fewars, after their inventor,
Sir Games Fewar. (Fewars are familiar to most of us under the brand name
+(hermos+.)
Co',er $-#n !i.(i, /e'i(m
(o reach temperatures even colder than li'uid helium, we use the
adiabatic demagneti#ation refrigerator (AF!).
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
0. ADIAATIC DE1AGNETI"ATION
REFRIGERATOR2ADR3
Adiabatic Femagneti#ation !efrigerators (AF!s) are used to cool
space.based detectors to low temperatures to minimi#e the noise in the data
obtained. An AF! contains a magneto caloric material, which can be made to
absorb or release heat with applied magnetic fields. Selection of a magneto
caloric material for use in an AF! is based largely on the refrigerant3s cooling
power, which is a function of its heat capacity. (he heat capacity of
gadolinium fluoride is being measured at several constant magnetic fields by
applying "nown amounts of heat and recording the resultant temperature
changes. !esults are not yet available.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
An AF! is a refrigerator that operates in cycles, alternating between
two states1 cooling and recycling. An AF! cools by absorbing heat energy
isothermally in a magneto.caloric material (a paramagnetic +salt pill+) in the
presence of a decreasing magnetic field. 9hen the refrigerant has absorbed
the ma)imum amount of energy it can hold, that energy must be dumped to a
heat sin"2 this is the recycling state. 9hen recycling, the magnetic field is
increased, the material warms up, and the heat is drained away by a heat sin".
-t is necessary to ensure that heat flows in the proper direction, from the
detector toward the heat sin"2 heat switches that can be turned +off+ and +on+
are used for this purpose. A heat switch provides thermal contact between the
detector and the AF! while the AF! is cooling, and another heat switch is
used for conducting heat to the heat sin" while the AF! is recycling. Both of
these switches can be turned off when operation is not re'uired.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
F(nc$ions of $-e &#sic ADR com)onen$s
C#'orime$ers
Calorimeters are sensors which measure heat input. (his AF! was
designed to cool calorimeters for the 8.!ay Spectrometer (8!S) instrument.
(hese calorimeters measure the energy of ).ray photons by measuring the heat
energy deposited when the photons are absorbed. (he instrument will be used
to measure ).rays coming from distant astronomical ob6ects.
/e#$ S4i$c-
(he heat switch is used to allow heat to be dumped periodically to the
helium bath (not shown.) (he main components are1 e)ternal shell (the brown
cutaway part)2 getter chamber and connecting tube (off the left end)2 and the
interleaved copper end pieces (the yellowish, reddish pieces that almost
touch.)
T-erm#' (s
(he thermal busses (shown here in yellow) are copper rods that
connect the calorimeters (which need to be cooled) with the salt pill (where
the cooling action ta"es place.)
S#'$ Pi''
(he salt pill is where the cooling action ta"es place. (he pill (actually
a cylinder) is made of ferric ammonium alum (FAA), also called ferric
ammonium sulfate. FAA was chosen to give good cooling power in the
temperature range where this AF! wil operate. (&ther AF!3s use other
materials.) 9hen in use, the salt pill end of the AF! is slid into a
superconducting magnet. Changing the applied magnetic field causes the salt
pill to cool or heat. (he hori#ontal lines running through the salt pill represent
the wires that provide good thermal contact from the salt pill material to the
heat switch and thermal busses.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
S(s)ension
(he outer structure of the AF! consists of metal rings and tubes,
which allow the AF! to fit securely within the superconducting magnet. ((he
magnet is not shown in this drawing.) (he salt pill is suspended within this
rigid outer structure by means of evlar cords. (evlar is a FuBont
trademar".) evlar is strong enough to hold the salt pill in place during the
stress of launch, but has low thermal conductivity so that not much heat lea"s
into the salt pill through the suspension. (he ends of the evlar lines are
attached to bolts (shown in blue.) By turning the bolts, technicians can tighten
or loosen the cords.
/e#$ S4i$c- S-e''
(he brown part with the cutaway upper edge is the shell of the heat
switch. (he shell is a cylinder. -t is made of Hespel, a polyimide material,
which provides high strength with low thermal conductivity. (Hespel is a
FuBont trademar".) @ot shown in this drawing is a layer of titanium foil on
the outside of the Hespel, to bloc" room temperature permeation of helium
from the heat switch.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
!imi$#$ions of $-e ADR
(he AF! must warm up periodically to dump stored heat into the
+warm+ end temperature sin". Furing the warm part of the cycle, the whole
AF!, including whatever sensors it may be cooling, is warm. &ne reason that
the 8!S AF! can have such a long cold part of the cycle (over a day) is that
the +warm+ heat sin" is at a low temperature .. only $.= elvin. -f the
temperature of the +warm+ heat sin" were raised, then the cold part of the
AF!3s cycle would shrin", and the warm part would lengthen.
-n other words, the performance of the AF! decreases as the +warm+
heat sin" is raised. (his decrease in performance ma"es it difficult to use a
mechanical cooler as the +warm+ heat sin". 5echanical coolers small enough
for satellite use, at present, can cool down only as far as ? to 0 elvin. An
AF! operating with a cold temperature of ?% milli elvin and a heat sin"
temperature of ? to 0 elvin would have to warm up much more fre'uently
than the 8!S AF! would.
Fespite this drawbac", it would be convenient to use a mechanical
cooler instead of a li'uid helium bath. (he li'uid helium bath slowly
evaporates, until it is completely gone. A mechanical cooler, especially a
highly reliable one, has no such limit on its cooling life. (his is why the
Advanced AF! (AAF!) was developed.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
5. AD6ANCED ADR 2AADR3
(he Advanced Adiabatic Femagneti#ation !efrigerator is a
multistage Adiabatic Femagneti#ation !efrigerator (AF!). 7ach stage passes
the absorbed heat to the ne)t stage in line. (he last stage (the +hot+ stage)
passes the heat to the heat sin", which could be a li'uid helium bath or
mechanical cryo.cooler. (he Adiabatic Femagneti#ation !efrigerator (AF!)
is a magnetic cooling system that has been used routinely in the laboratory for
cooling to temperatures below the temperature of li'uid helium. Astronomers
are now developing sensors for ).ray and infrared astronomy which will
operate in this temperature range. Since these sensors are more sensitive than
their higher temperature predecessors, cryogenic engineers are now hard at
wor" on the systems to cool them in orbit.
&ne purpose of the advanced AF! is to combine the high
performance of the 8!S AF! with the convenience of a mechanical cooler.
(he advanced AF! is not 6ust one AF!, it3s a group. (he design uses a series
of simple, standard AF!3s (each with one salt pill) to bridge the temperature
gap between the sensors (at, say ?% milli.elvin) and the mechanical cooler
(at ? to 0 elvin.) 7ach standard AF! would have a relatively small
temperature drop across it, and thus would be able to remain cold for a long
time.
Sc-em#$ic
,ere is a schematic diagram of one possible advanced AF!. (he
AF! shown has = salt pills, a hot end salt pill, a cold end salt pill, and a
middle salt pill. 7ach salt pill has its own magnet, which controls the
temperature in that pill. Between the salt pills are heat switches and evlar
supports. (he upper two magnets in this design are shown surrounded by
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
magnetic shielding, to prevent the magnetic fields from interfering with other
e'uipment.
7or8ing
,eat is constantly lea"ing into the advanced AF! from warmer
surroundings. -t can come in through the physical supports. -t can also come in
as infrared radiation .. perhaps the radiation that is being studied by the
astronomical sensor that the advanced AF! is cooling. Also, the electronics in
the astronomical sensors might create a small amount of heat
In$o $-e Co', En, S#'$ Pi''
(he purpose of the cold end salt pill is to absorb this heat, so that the
astronomers3 sensors can stay at their best operating temperature. (o hold the
cold end temperature steady while the heat is flowing in, the AF! operators
must slowly reduce the magnetic field produced by the magnet at the cold end
pill. (he operators must remove the stored energy from the cold end salt pill
before they ramp the magnetic field all the way down to #ero. For that step,
they send the heat1
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
From $-e Co', En, S#'$ Pi'' $o $-e 1i,,'e S#'$ Pi''
(he middle salt pill is designed so that it can be cooled to a
temperature slightly colder than that of the cold end salt pill. (hat3s 6ust what
the operators do when they3re ready to dump the heat from the cold end to
middle pill. ((hey cool the middle salt pill down by reducing the magnetic
field produced by the magnet that surrounds it.) (hen they activate the heat
switch that connects the middle and cold end salt pills. (his allows heat to
flow from the cold end pill to the (now slightly colder) middle pill.
As heat flows from the cold end salt pill, operators must increase the
magnetic field produced by the magnet that surrounds the cold end pill. -f they
left the field constant, the temperature of the salt pill would drop as the heat
flowed out. 9hen they have transferred as much heat, and ramped up the cold
end magnetic field, as much as they want, the operators stop ramping up the
magnetic field. (hey then turn the heat switch off, to bloc" any flow of heat
bac" from the middle pill to the cold end pill.
(he operators must also start slowly decreasing the field of the cold
end salt pill3s magnet, to "eep the temperature in the cold end pill constant.
From $-e 1i,,'e S#'$ Pi'' $o $-e /o$ En, S#'$ Pi''
Before they can transfer heat from the middle pill to the hot end pill,
operators must bring the middle pill up to the top of its temperature range and
bring the hot end pill to the bottom of its temperature range. (hey do this by
ramping up the magnetic field of the middle salt pill magnet and ramping
down the field of the hot end salt pill magnet. 9hen the middle salt pill3s
temperature is higher than the hot end pill3s, operators turn on the heat switch
that connects the / pills. ,eat now flows from the middle pill to the slightly
colder hot end pill.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
9hen the heat has been transferred, the operators turn off the mid to hot end
heat switch.
From $-e /o$ En, S#'$ Pi'' $o $-e /e#$ Sin8
&perators now heat up the hot end salt pill (by ramping up the
magnetic field of the hot end magnet.) (hey then activate the heat switch that
connects the hot end salt pill to the heat sin". (he sin" might be a li'uid
helium bath (in which case operators can dump the heat 'uic"ly) or a
mechanical cryo.cooler (in which case operators must dump the heat more
slowly.)
All the time that the middle and hot end salt pills have been
transferring the heat out, the cold end salt pill has been absorbing heat,
preparing to start the cycle over again
AD6ANTAGES
Gre#$er Tem)er#$(re R#nge
(here3s a limit to the temperature range of a single stage AF!, that is,
the range between the coldest temperature it can reach and the temperature of
its +hot+ end heat sin". (hat limit is set by the properties of the salt pill
material. A multi.stage AF! can have a greater temperature range because it
can use a series of salt pills of different materials with overlapping
temperature ranges.
1ec-#nic#' Coo'er #s /e#$ Sin8
A multi.stage Advanced AF! could have a +hot+ end temperature as
high as $% elvin .. high enough to use a mechanical cooler as heat sin" ..
while still cooling down to milli.elvin temperatures. By contrast, the single.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
stage 8!S AF! had such a low high.end temperature, $.= elvin, that the
only heat sin" it could use was a bath of li'uid helium .. a bath that evaporates
away as it cools.
Con$in(o(s Coo'ing
A single.stage AF! must shut down periodically to warm up and
dump its load of stored heat into the heat sin". -n an Advanced AF!, the end
stage could be cooled periodically by a slightly colder stage. (hus, the end
stage of an Advanced AF! could provide continuous cooling.
!o4er 7eig-$
(he Advanced AF! could be lower in weight than a long hold time
one.stage AF!. (he salt pill of a long hold time one.stage AF! needs to be
large enough to absorb a large amount of heat energy. (he salt pills of
a continuous AF! can be much smaller, since they can be cycled fre'uently
without interrupting the cooling.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
9. :;RAY SPECTRO1ETER 2:RS3< A CO1P!ETE
SATE!!ITE COO!ING SYSTE1
(he 8.!ay Spectrometer (8!S) was a satellite payload with a
cooling system that operated down to si)ty thousandths of a degree above
absolute #ero.
(he 8!S is an instrument designed to study ).rays emitted by blac"
holes and other e)otic astronomical ob6ects. (he first one was destroyed in a
launch attempt from the agoshima Space Center in Gapan in February /%%%.
A replacement was then built and launched in Guly /%%C. Infortunately, a
problem developed with the li'uid helium coolant supply, which suddenly
evaporated only $D days after the launch. A mishap investigation board is now
being organi#ed to find the cause of the une)pected loss of helium coolant. 9e
hope that they will pinpoint a problem which can be avoided on future
satellites. -n the mean time, however, we "now that many of the technologies
used in 8!S wor"ed well, and we e)pect that they will be used in future space
missions.
8!S shows how li'uid helium cooling and an AF! can wor"
together as part of a satellite cooling system. 8!S is also interesting for
another reason. Because the volume of li'uid helium was so small, the system
included some unusual design features. (hese features were intended to
lengthen the lifetime of the li'uid helium coolant supply by reducing the need
for cooling.
(o wor" properly, the ).ray astronomy sensors in 8!S needed to be
cooled to si)ty thousandths of a degree above absolute #ero. For this
temperature range, we chose an Adiabatic Femagneti#ation !efrigerator
(AF!). (he AF! has been used in laboratories on the ground for years, and is
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
thus a well.established technology. Another commonly used laboratory cooler
for this temperature range is the li'uid helium dilution refrigerator. For
satellite use, the AF! has / important advantages over the dilution
refrigerator. First, the AF! is more efficient. 7fficiency is important in a
satellite, where electric power and all other resources are strictly limited.
Second, the dilution refrigerator re'uires a complicated internal plumbing
system. (his plumbing would be difficult to adapt for a satellite. -n one part of
the plumbing, a lighter li'uid floats on top of a heavier li'uid. -t would be
difficult to design a replacement for this part of the system which would wor"
in #ero gravity.
All the really low temperature cooling systems have one thing in
common. Inli"e the refrigerator in your "itchen, none of these systems will
wor" at room temperature. (hey all must be cooled to low temperatures in
order to produce the even lower temperatures that we are aiming for. (he 8!S
AF! was cooled by a tan" of li'uid helium at $.= elvin ($.= degrees above
absolute #ero. Surrounding the li'uid helium tan" was a tan" of solid neon at
$< elvin ($< degrees above absolute #ero.). At 4oddard the helium tan", the
AF!, the ).ray sensors, were all built and all the e'uipment attached directly
to them.
*i'uid helium cools by evaporating as it absorbs heat, 6ust as, on a
warm day, we are cooled by the perspiration that evaporates from us. For
8!S, we had to design the system to have a tiny evaporation rate, much
smaller than had been done before in a satellite. Because of the small space
available in the satellite, the 8!S helium tan" could only carry $0 to /% liters
of li'uid helium. (his supply of li'uid helium had to last for the / years of the
mission. By comparison, in one laboratory cryogenic system - used recently,
that much helium evaporated in a single day.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
&n the ground, some laboratories have machines that capture the
helium vapor and re.condense it to form li'uid helium. Infortunately, such
helium li'uefiers are much bigger than the space available for the entire 8!S
instrument. So we had to concentrate on ma"ing the helium evaporate as
slowly as possible.
7or8ing of $-e :RS
(he detectors in 8!S are 8.ray micro calorimeters. (hey wor" by
monitoring the temperature of a tiny piece of silicon, and measuring the
temperature rise that result when it absorbs an 8.ray photon.
Jou might imagine that measuring the temperature rise from a single
photon is fairly difficult, and you3d be rightA Briefly, here is how it is done1
First, the 8.rays must be focused onto the detectors. (his is done with
a set of conical mirrors made of hundreds of layers of very thin foil.
(he detectors need to be "ept e)tremely cold (?% milli elvin). (his
re'uires a comple) cryogenic system, including li'uid helium and
solid neon. -t also re'uires the use of several filters to "eep out stray
light, radio waves, and any other radiation other than 8.rays.
(he signals from the detectors are amplified and shaped by a pac"age
of analog electronics and then processed digitally to determine the
energy of each photon.
,ere is a bloc" diagram of the instrument (minus the mirrors), and a
brief description of each subsystem.
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
:RS Cryogenic Sys$em
-n addition to the need to "eep the heat capacity of the absorber to the
minimum, the 8!S must operate at a low temperature to minimi#e the phonon
noise and ma)imi#e the sensitivity of the resistive thermometer. (o achieve
the re'uired energy resolution, with the re'uired detector si#e implies that the
operating temperature must be below %.$ . For the 8!S, there are four stages
of cooling.
(he primary source of cooling is a $=% liter solid neon dewar. (he life
of the neon is e)tended by the use of a mechanical cooler which cools the
outer radiation shield of the dewar. (he solid neon maintains a temperature of
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Cryogenics and its Space Applications
$< , and surrounds a =/ liter tan" filled with li'uid helium. (he li'uid
helium is vented to space, and maintains a temperature of . (he final
stage of cooling is accomplished via the use of an adiabatic demagneti#ation
refrigerator (AF!). (his allows operation down to C% m2 for the 8!S, the
nominal operating temperature will be ?% m. Accurate temperature
regulation is crucial, as the detector response depends directly on its
temperature. A change in temperature results in a corresponding change in the
energy scale calibration. T-erefore $-e ADR is s)ecifie, $o m#in$#in $-e
$em)er#$(re $o &e$$er $-#n 1= > rms o%er # 1=s $o 1=min $imesc#'e.
*onger term temperature drifts are accounted for by a dedicated calibration
pi)el. (emperature control is accomplished by ad6usting the magnetic field via
a feedbac" loop. (he e)pected lifetime of the on.board cryogens is
years. (his corresponds to operating the cooler C%E of the time2 a slightly
longer lifetime is e)pected if the cooler can operate at all times.
(he AF! operates by aligning the magnetic moments (electron spins)
of the molecules in the salt pill with a superconducting magnet, running at
A and providing a magnetic field of (esla. At the start of a cycle, the
magnet is ramped up to a full field and the salt pill is connected to the li'uid
helium bath via a gas.gap heat switch, transferring the heat to the li'uid
helium bath. &nce the salt pill has reached e'uilibrium, the heat switch is
opened, and at this point the magnetic field is reduced to nearly #ero. (his
allows the spins of the electrons in the salt molecules to randomi#e
adiabatically, causing the salt to cool as they do. -t is e)pected that the Astro-
E2 AF! can maintain the ?% m temperature while in orbit for $ day, at
which point the magnetic spins are completely randomi#ed, and no more heat
can be absorbed. At this point, a KKrecharge33 of the refrigerator is necessary,
and the cycle is started again. (he KKrecharge33 of the refrigerator, typically
//
Cryogenics and its Space Applications
lasting hour, can be done partially while the observed astrophysical target
is behind the 7arth.
/=
Cryogenics and its Space Applications
?. REFERENCES
$. www.nasa.gov.
/. LCryogenics and !efrigerationM by Barrom.
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