The Cryogenic System of the MISTRAL Instrument: Design and In-lab Performance
Abstract We describe the design and performance of the cryostat and the multi-stage sub-K single-shot sorption cooler for the MIllimeter Sardinia Radio Telescope Receiver based on Array of Lumped elements kids (MISTRAL) experiment. MISTRAL is a W-band (77 - 103 GHz) Ti/Al bi-layer Lumped Elements Kinetic Inductance Detectors (LEKIDs) camera working at the Gregorian focus of the 64 m aperture Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT), located in Sardinia (Italy). The cryogenic system, based on a 1.5 W at 4.2 K Pulse Tube (PT) cryocooler, provides the 4 K base temperature for the sub-K refrigerator, and cools down the cold optics and the filters chain of the instrument. The sub-K sorption cooler consists of two intermediate stages, $$^{4}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mmultiscripts> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> </mml:mmultiscripts> </mml:math> He and $$^{3}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mmultiscripts> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:mmultiscripts> </mml:math> He sorption refrigerators that allow to reduce the heat load on the ultra-cold head, and a twin stage of $$^{3}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mmultiscripts> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:mmultiscripts> </mml:math> He sorption refrigerator providing the 0.2 K operation temperature for the 415-pixel array of LEKIDs. MISTRAL experiment was installed at SRT in May 2023, the technical commissioning started in June 2023. We will show the performance of the system in the laboratory.
Authors
- Alessandro Carbone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3383-8948)
- E. S. Battistelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5210-7625)
- A. Navarrini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6191-6958)
- Valentina Capalbo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1668-3403)
- A. Paiella
- I. Porceddu
- Alessandro Gentilucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3837-1830)
- Tonino Pisanu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2510-7501)
- A. Novelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8619-2377)
- A. Occhiuzzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5020-631X)
- F. Piacentini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5444-9327)
- E. Carretti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3973-8403)
- Giovanni Isopi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8458-0588)
- P. Marongiu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0314-7801)
- S. Masi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5105-1439)
- A. Orlati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8737-255X)
- A. Coppolecchia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4522-5214)
- M. De Petris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7859-2139)
- S. Poppi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4698-2607)
- M. R. Schirru
- A. Ritacco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0162-8206)
- F. Govoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3644-3084)
- A. Cruciani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2247-8067)
- F. Columbro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2404-1056)
- E. Barbavara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2011-9012)
- E. Molinari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1742-7735)
- Giorgio Pettinari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0187-3770)
- Gian Paolo Vargiu
- P. de Bernardis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6547-6446)
- F. Cacciotti
- Elisa Pappalardo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6881-9176)
- M. Murgia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4800-0806)
- E. Levati
- A. Mascia
- D. Ciccalotti
- L. Lamagna
Institutions
- University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (IT)
- Brera Astronomical Observatory (IT)
- Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna (IT)
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie (IT)
- Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari (IT)
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Low Temperature Physics
- Published
- 2025-02-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10909-024-03263-2
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Superconducting and THz Device Technology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.15