Advanced Infrared (IR) Sensor Components for Missile Defense

The DoD STTR solicitation is seeking to identify innovative technology to provide a quantum leap in performance for cryocooler systems. Successful development of such an innovative technology will result in lowering the cost and risk of cryocoolers while increasing reliability and lifetime, which will lead to increased producibility of cryocooler systems. Johnson Research & Development Co., Inc. (JRD), in conjunction with Raytheon and Tuskegee University (TU), is working on the development of two, staged solid-state cryocooler designs, one using two pulse tube (PT) based cryocoolers and the other staging a PT and a Joule Thompson (JT) system, to achieve the 0.5W @ 35K goal. These designs are inherently extremely low in vibration, which is critical for image jitter minimization, and structurally robust, essential for launch survivability. Furthermore, initial analyses predict that efficiency potential of these concepts is competitive with present day cryocooler technology.