A 10 K Multistage Cryocooler with Very Low Vibration

Advanced space borne instruments require cooling at temperatures of 10 K and below. Potential missions include the Origin Space Telescope and the Superconducting Gravity Gradiometer. Cooling loads for these detectors will range from 50 mW to 500 mW at the primary load site, with additional loads at higher temperatures for other subsystems. Due to jitter requirements, a cryocooler with very low vibration is required for many missions. In addition, a multi-stage cooler, capable of providing refrigeration at more than one temperature simultaneously, can provide the greatest system efficiency with the lowest mass. To address this need, we plan to develop and demonstrate a two stage turbo-Brayton cryocooler that provides refrigeration at 10 K, with additional cooling at 50 to 70 K. On the Phase I project, we optimized the performance of an existing cryocooler and measured its performance. During the proposed Phase II project, we plan to optimize key cryocooler components for operation in a 10 K cryocooler, and demonstrate the performance of the advanced technology through demonstrations at cold load temperatures of 10 K and below. We will use these test results to develop a design for a fully optimized, flight cryocooler for a particular NASA mission class.

The successful completion of this program will result in the demonstration of an extremely efficient low temperature cryocooler with negligible vibration. This type of cryocooler is ideal as the upper-stage cryocooler or primary cooler for cooling advanced, low-temperature space instruments. Potential NASA missions include the Origin Space Telescope and the Superconducting Gravity Gradiometer. A secondary military market for the technology is for cooling hyperspectral imaging systems on space based observation, surveillance and missile defense systems.

Commercial applications for this technology include cooling for communication satellites; superconducting instruments, digital filters, and magnets; low temperature gas separation systems; hypercomputers; and Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs).

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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