Development of a 3‐stage Pulse Tube Cryocooler for Cooling at 10K and 75K

Under contract with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Lockheed Martin has built and tested a 3‐stage pulse tube cryocooler which provides cooling at 10K and 75K. The cooler was designed for 200mW cooling at 10K and 8W cooling at 75K. The pulse tube is a simple 3‐stage coldhead with no moving parts, driven by a long‐life linear flexure‐bearing clearance‐seal compressor. The coldhead is a robust U‐tube arrangement, with all metal seals for long life. Performance data will be presented.Future Air Force and Department of Defense (DoD) satellites will require efficient, low temperature cryocoolers to support space surveillance, missile defense, and other mission applications. The use of Very Long Wave Infrared (VLWIR) focal planes using arsenic doped silicon detectors operating at 10K which can detect to 25 micron wavelength has long been sought as the solution to the mid course missile defense mission. The immaturity of 10K cryocooler technology has impeded the use of VLWIR focal planes in current space payl...