,First demonstration of an all-solid-state optical cryocooler

• 作 者: Markus P.Hehlen Junwei Meng Alexander R.Albrecht Eric R.Lee Aram Gragossian Steven P.Love Christopher E.Hamilton Richard I.Epstein Mansoor Sheik-Bahae
• 机 构: Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O.Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA“,”Department of Physics & As
• 出 处: 光：科学与应用（英文版）
• 发表日期: 2018年4期

Solid-state optical refrigeration uses anti-Stokes fluorescence to cool macroscopic objects to cryogenic temperatures without vibrations.Crystals such as yb3+-doped YLiF4 (YLF:Yb) have previously been laser-cooled to 91 K.In this study,we show for the first time laser cooling of a payload connected to a cooling crystal.A YLF:Yb crystal was placed inside a Herriott cell and pumped with a 1020-nm laser (47W) to cool a HgCdTe sensor that is part of a working Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer to 135 K.This first demonstration of an all-solid-state optical cryocooler was enabled by careful control of the various desired and undesired heat flows.Fluorescence heating of the payload was minimized by using a single-kink YLF thermal link between the YLF:Yb cooling crystal and the copper coldfinger that held the HgCdTe sensor.The adhesive-free bond between YLF and YLF:Yb showed excellent thermal reliability.This laser-cooled assembly was then supported by silica aerogel cylinders inside a vacuum clamshell to minimize undesired conductive and radiative heat loads from the warm surroundings.Our structure can serve as a baseline for future optical cryocooler devices.