Characterization of micromachined cryogenic coolers

Abstract

Micro cryogenic coolers can be used to cool small circuitry and improve their performance. The authors present a variety of micro coolers which are fabricated using MEMS technology production processes only. The typical dimension of a micro cold stage is 30 × 2.2 × 0.5 mm. It cools down to 96 K, applying Joule–Thomson expansion in a 300 nm high flow restriction and has a cooling power ranging from 10 mW to 25 mW. This paper discusses the operation of the micro cold stage and the characterization measurements done.