Uncooled Infrared Photon Detectors

We propose to develop an efficient heat rejection unit for cryogenic cooling with ultra low parasitic thermal, mechanical, and electromagnetic noise for cooling filters and sensors at HTS conditions. The proposed device will incorporate active micro-scaleheat transfer surfaces, pump(s), and temperature sensors in a single package that will be directly attached to the heat source. EHD micro pumping is particularly suitable for this application due to the fact that no moving parts are used. Innovations inthe microstructural geometries are intended to create higher pumping action and heat dissipation rates per unit surface area of the electronic component. A major advantage of the proposed system is the ability to produce a pumped loop for cooling ofdistributed electronics with variable cooling load, while maintaining the advantage of low parasitic noise. During Phase I, we demonstrated the feasibility of fabrication and operation of the proposed system and determined the performance envelope of thissystem at room temperature. The results of this investigation will assist in the development of micro cooling devices capable of operating at cryogenic temperatures.BENEFITS: Heat rejection from HTS devices is a problem due to the high demand on thermalfluctuations and vibration. Our proposed device addresses a critical problem in a field in which the sensor and filter sensitivity and their dynamic range depend strongly on how well they are cooled. The proposed device will function as a thermal controlsystem for high power electronic systems or for sensitive devices or sensors requiring fine control of spatial cooling to minimize total system heat loads (such as in cryogenic HTS components). The micro cooling system will be a robust, lightweight devicethat provides thermal control for spacecraft, military and commercial applications containing multiple electronic component heat sources.