A Liquid-Cryogen-Free Cryostat for Ultrahigh Resolution Gamma-Ray Spectrometers

Conference · Mon Jun 30 00:00:00 EDT 2008

OSTI ID:945777

Dreyer, J G; Hertrich, T; Drury, O B; Hohne, J; Friedrich, S

We are developing ultra-high energy resolution gamma-ray detectors based on superconducting transition edge sensors (TESs) for nuclear non-proliferation and fundamental science applications. They use bulk tin absorbers attached to molybdenum-copper multilayer TESs, and have achieved an energy resolution between 50 and 90 eV FWHM for gamma-ray energies below 122 keV. For increased user-friendliness, we have built a cryostat that attains the required detector operating temperature of 0.1 K at the push of a button without the use of cryogenic liquids. It uses a two-stage mechanical pulse tube refrigerator for precooling to {approx}3 K, and a two-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator for cooling to the base temperature. The cryostat is fully automated, attains a base temperature below 30 mK without the use of cryogenic liquids, and has a hold time of {approx}2 days at 0.1 K between 1-hour demagnetization cycles. Here we discuss the performance of the cryostat for operation in a Gamma-spectrometer with 112-pixel arrays of superconducting TES detectors.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 945777
• Report Number(s): LLNL-CONF-406176; TRN: US0901095
• Resource Relation: Conference: Presented at: Symposium on Radiation Measurment and Applications (SORMA West 2008), Berkeley, CA, United States, Jun 02 - Jun 05, 2008
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUMM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
07 ISOTOPES AND RADIATION SOURCES
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
ADIABATIC DEMAGNETIZATION
CRYOGENICS
CRYOSTATS
DEMAGNETIZATION
ENERGY RESOLUTION
PERFORMANCE
PROLIFERATION
RADIATIONS
REFRIGERATORS
RESOLUTION
SPECTROMETERS