PhD defense Hendrie Derking Ir. Hendrie Derking will defend his PhD thesis on distributed Joule-Thomson microcooling for optical detectors in space on Friday afternoon October 21st 2011 at 14.30u in the Berkhoff room (WA4) of the building de Waaier.

Ir. Hendrie Derking will defend his PhD thesis on distributed Joule-Thomson microcooling for optical detectors in space on Friday afternoon October 21^st 2011 at 14.30u in the Berkhoff room (WA4) of the building de Waaier.

Hendrie investigated the utilization of micromachined Joule-Thomson coolers for future space missions in cooling small optical detectors operating in the temperature range 80 – 300 K. The scope was to obtain a distributed cooling system in which multiple miniature coolers, each cooling a small detector, are driven by a single compressor. The research was carried out under contract of the European Space Agency.

During his PhD-research, Hendrie developed a conceptual design of a microcooler - detector system that focused on the interface between a JT cooler and a detector and on the wiring of the detector. Furthermore, Hendrie characterized a new generation of micromachined JT cold stages and experimentally tested the conceptual design. Also, he worked on a distributed mixed-gas JT cooling system in which JT cold stages are driven by a linear compressor.

For more information, please contact ir. Hendrie Derking (j.h.derking@utwente.nl or phone +31 (0)53 489 5429).