| 摘要 |
A compact, reliable, and efficient cryogenic cooling system that can provide cryogenic cooling for a variety of desirable uses. The system is particularly desirable to provide cooling for infrared detectors in temperature ranges from 40K to 77K, and may be advantageously used in multi-stage systems to produce temperatures as low as 5K. In cryogenic cooling systems using a compressor and Joule-Thomson valves, working fluids, such as nitrogen, can be precooled to temperatures substantially below 165K at the input to a Joule-Thomson valve, and the power input to systems of our invention providing cooling 77K, for example, can be reduced by a factor of 4.5. In closed loop systems, a precooler between the compressor and the Joule-Thomson valve cools the working fluid by heat exchange between the working fluid flowing from the compressor to the Joule-Thomson valve and the working fluid returning from the load to the compressor, and by a further heat exchange between the working fluid flowing from the compressor to the Joule-Thomson valve and a cooling means conductively coupled to the working fluid. The cooling means can comprise a plurality of conductive heat paths-forming means that are conductively coupled to the working fluid flowing from the compressor to the Joule-Thomson valve and a plurality of thermo-electric coolers for removing heat from the conductive heat path-forming means.
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