Compact 2.2 K Cooling System for Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors

Published

January 25, 2017

Author(s)

Vincent Y. Kotsubo, Ray Radebaugh, Sae Woo Nam, Joel N. Ullom, Brandon L. Wilson, Paul Hendershott, Micheal Bonczyski

Abstract

We are developing a compact, low power, closed cycle cooling system for Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors. The base temperature of the present prototype, which uses a helium-4 Joule-Thomson stage, is 2.2 K with over 1.2 mW of cooling. This stage is precooled to 10 K using a 3-stage linear compressor pulse tube cooler. A fully optimized system is projected to consume less than 250 W of wall power, and fit within a standard fan-cooled equipment rack enclosure. To-date, the pulse tube coldhead, pulse tube compressor, Joule-Thomson expansion stage, and Joule-Thomson counter-flow heat exchangers have been developed, and performance tests show that design goals have been met. Substituting helium-3 for helium-4 should result in temperatures approaching 1 K. Future work includes development of the Joule-Thomson compressor, drive and control electronics, and further optimization of the pulse tube and Joule-Thomson coldheads.

Proceedings Title

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Volume

27

Issue

4

Conference Dates

September 4-30, 2016

Conference Location

Denver, CO

Conference Title

Applied Superconductivity Conference

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

Cryocoolers, Cryogenics, Joule-Thomson, Pulse Tube‎.

Citation

Kotsubo, V. , Radebaugh, R. , Nam, S. , Ullom, J. , Wilson, B. , Hendershott, P. and Bonczyski, M. (2017), Compact 2.2 K Cooling System for Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors, IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Denver, CO (Accessed October 9, 2025)