OPTIMIZATION OF A TWO-STAGE ADR FOR THE SOFT X-RAY SPECTROMETER (SXS) INSTRUMENT ON THE ASTRO-H MISSION

Journal Article · Fri Apr 09 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3422379· OSTI ID:21371800

Shirron, P J; Kimball, M O; Wegel, D C ^[1]; Miller, F K ^[2]

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1. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771 (United States)
2. University of Wisconsin, Dept. of Mech. Eng., Madison, WI, 53715 (United States)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center has begun developing the Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) instrument that will be flown on the Japanese Astro-H mission. The SXS's 36-pixel detector array will be cooled to 50 mK using a two-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR). A complicating factor for its design is that the ADR will be integrated into a superfluid helium dewar at 1.3 K that will be coupled to a 1.8 K Joule-Thomson (JT) stage through a heat switch. When liquid helium is present, the coupling will be weak, and the JT stage will act primarily as a shield to reduce parasitic heat loads. When the liquid is depleted, the heat switch will couple more strongly so that the ADR can continue to operate using the JT stage as its heat sink. A two-stage ADR is the most mass efficient option and it has the operational flexibility to work well with a stored cryogen and a cryocooler. The stages are operated independently, and this opens up a very large parameter space for optimizing the design. This paper discusses the optimization process and most relevant trades considered in the design of the SXS ADR, and its expected performance.

• OSTI ID: 21371800
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1218, Issue 1; Conference: International cryogenic materials conference (ICMC) on advances in cryogenic engineering materials, Tucson, AZ (United States), 28 Jun - 2 Jul 2009; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3422379; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ADIABATIC DEMAGNETIZATION
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
CRYOGENICS
DESIGN
DEWARS
HEAT SINKS
HEAT TRANSFER
HEATING LOAD
HELIUM
LIQUIDS
REFRIGERATORS
SHIELDS
SI SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
SOFT X RADIATION
SPACE FLIGHT
SUPERFLUIDITY
X-RAY DETECTION
X-RAY SPECTROMETERS
CONTAINERS
DEMAGNETIZATION
DETECTION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUIDS
GASES
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NONMETALS
RADIATION DETECTION
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIATIONS
RARE GASES
SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
SINKS
SPECTROMETERS
X RADIATION