A High Conductance Detachable Heat Switch for ADRs

Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerators (ADRs) are being increasingly considered for instrumentation and detector cooling on space missions such as Constellation-X. A multistage ADR is presently under development to operate between 6 K and the detector temperature of 50 mK. Energen, Inc. has developed and demonstrated a high conductance detachable thermal link (the heat switch) for operation at sub-Kelvin temperatures using a high-force cryogenic magnetostrictive actuator. A more efficient detachable thermal link decreases the number of cooling stages, thereby reducing the weight, cost and complexity of the cooling system. This heat switch uses KelvinAll, a magnetostrictive material developed by Energen, as the active element. Unlike other magnetostrictive materials, KelvinAll operates over a broad temperature range. At cryogenic temperatures it delivers a long stroke allowing a large separation gap between the contacting surfaces when the switch is disengaged. This makes alignment and operation of the heat switch simple.