EAGER: CRYO: Actively-Controlled Fast-Switching Thermal Switch for Sub-Kelvin Cooling with Low He3 Usage

EAGER：CRYO：主动控制的快速开关热开关，可实现亚开尔文冷却，He3 使用量低

• 批准号: 2233370
• 负责人: Stephen Boyd
• 金额: $ 28.67万
• 依托单位: University of New Mexico
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2233370&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; CRYO; Actively; Controlled; Fast

This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) will fund research supporting the development of ultra-low temperature refrigeration with low He3 usage. Helium and its even rarer isotope He3, which has a crustal abundance of only 0.00014 percent of helium on Earth, are currently in short supply and the situation is projected to get worse. There is an urgent need to drastically reduce the usage of helium in ultra-low refrigeration applications needed for the national capability for the advancement of quantum-enabled devices and their many applications in computing, sensing, and communications. The project will thus promote the progress of science, advance the national prosperity, and help secure the national defense utilizing these unique technologies. Currently, refrigeration at temperatures below 1° Kelvin is largely limited to He3-dilution refrigerators, none of which are manufactured in the United States. Magnetic refrigeration is a low- He3 sub-Kelvin approach that has been developed for spaceflight experiments by NASA. This award supports fundamental research to remove a key technical obstacle to the commercial development of magnetic refrigeration as a low- He3 replacement for dilution refrigeration. This project has the opportunity to recruit and train students from an exceptionally diverse pool at the University of New Mexico is a Hispanic Serving Institution into an area needing an increased workforce.Sub-Kelvin magnetic refrigeration has been developed for spaceflight experiments by NASA. However, commercial development has proven difficult because of the overall complexity of these systems and the lack of simple design rules to engineer the subsystems, particularly the thermal switches. A further challenge is the difficulty of incorporating the fixed-temperature stages needed to support heat-sinking and thermal radiation shields. This award will perform fundamental research to develop a new thermal switch for the 0.5K-4K temperature range. The new switch’s features include rapid active control, high switching ratio, and a clear and simple set of design rules. Research objectives are to design; develop manufacturing techniques for; demonstrate; and characterize the new thermal switch, and then to demonstrate a single stage of magnetic refrigeration using the new switch, operating between two constant-temperature stages. Detailed modeling and experiment will be closely coupled. The project will use an existing research cryostat for measurements and will build on an extensive base of magnetic refrigeration simulation and modeling tools in the PI’s laboratory. Comparison of modeling and experiment will increase knowledge of magnetic refrigeration parameters and performance, and of static and dynamic heat flow in complex heat switch geometries containing materials with widely varying thermal properties.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项探索性研究的早期概念赠款（急切）将资助支持低HE3使用的超低温度制冷的研究。氦气及其甚至更罕见的同位素HE3（仅供应地球上的氦气仅为0.00014％），目前供应不足，预计情况会变得更糟。迫切需要大幅度减少国家在实现量子，支持量子的设备及其在计算，敏感性和通信方面的许多应用中所需的超低制冷应用中的使用。因此，该项目将促进科学的进步，促进民族繁荣，并利用这些独特的技术来确保国防。目前，在低于1°开尔文的温度下的制冷在很大程度上仅限于HE3稀释冰箱，而在美国没有生产的冰箱。磁制冷是一种低HE3亚克氏素方法，已为NASA开发用于太空飞行实验。该奖项支持基本研究，以消除磁制冷商业开发作为低HE3替代稀释制冷的关键技术障碍。该项目有机会从新墨西哥大学招募和培训来自异常多样化的游泳池的学生是西班牙裔服务机构进入需要增加劳动力的地区。但是，由于这些系统的整体复杂性以及缺乏简单的设计规则来设计子系统，尤其是热开关，因此事实证明商业开发很困难。另一个挑战是，难以合并支撑热界和热辐射屏蔽所需的固定温度阶段。该奖项将进行基础研究，以开发0.5K-4K温度范围的新热开关。新开关的功能包括快速主动控制，高开关比率以及一组清晰而简单的设计规则。研究目标是设计；开发制造技术；证明;并表征新的热开关，然后使用新开关在两个恒定阶段进行运行。详细的建模和实验将紧密耦合。该项目将使用现有的研究低温器进行测量，并将基于PI实验室中的磁制冷模拟和建模工具的广泛基础。建模和实验的比较将增加对磁制冷参数和性能的知识，以及复杂热开关的静态和动态热流，其中包含具有变化较大的热性能的材料。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准评估来诚实地获得支持。