For many measurement applications, the sensitivity of cryogenic instrumentation far surpasses that of conventional room temperature electronics. Consequently, NIST has a large program to develop detectors that operate at temperatures between 4 Kelvin and 50 milliKelvin. The adoption of these detectors in real-world applications depends critically on the availability of cryogenics that are user-friendly, compact, and power efficient. As part of the cryogenic detector development effort, NIST also develops the requisite cryogenic systems, which include both cryocoolers and cryostats. Relevant cooling technologies include pulse tube, Joule-Thomson, sorption, quantum tunneling, adiabatic demagnetization, and dilution refrigerators. Research opportunities focus on the development of cooling systems with significantly reduced size and power consumption. There is particular emphasis on cooling from room temperature down to 2 Kelvin using pulse tube coolers developed using the thermoacoustic framework. There is also emphasis on cooling from 1 Kelvin to the milliKelvin regime using quantum tunneling in solid-state structures.

 

Keywords:

Cryogenics; Cryocoolers; Refrigerators; Thermodynamics; Hydrodynamics; Thermoacoustics; Pulse tube; Tunnel junction;

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral applicants