Patent ID: 9328943
Filing Date: 2016-05-03
CPC Classification: F25B,H05K

Claim Text:
1. An integrated detector cooler assembly (IDCA) comprising: a planar, circular disk-shaped Joule-Thomson cryostat in direct contact with a focal plane array (HA), the cryostat comprising: a first refrigerant source having a mixed-gas refrigerant to be provided to at least one of said cooling circuits; wherein at least one of the first and second cooling circuits is configured to operate as a reverse-flow heat exchanger, such that entering refrigerant is cooled by exiting refrigerant; wherein at least one cooling circuit includes heat-transfer bridges disposed on the cryostat along said cooling circuit to transfer heat between high-pressure and low-pressure portions of the cooling circuit, where the high-pressure portion of the cooling circuit is associated with refrigerant flowing into the circuit and the low-pressure portion of the cooling circuit is associated with refrigerant flowing out of the circuit; and wherein the first and second cooling circuits are both equipped with said heat transfer bridges, and the first and second gas expander portions being coldest portions of the cryostat and in direct thermal contact with the FPA a control portion configured to operate the first cooling circuit in a first mode and operate the second cooling circuit in a second mode.