Patent ID: 9736962
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: F25B,F25D,F28D,F28F,G01R,H05K

Claim:
1. A temperature-forcing system for controlling the temperature of an electronic device under test, comprising: a refrigerant circulation subsystem configured to deliver a cooled first refrigerant through a first conduit circuit to a heat exchanger and to deliver a pressurized second refrigerant through a second conduit circuit to said heat exchanger so as to cool said second refrigerant; and a temperature-forcing head, associated with said refrigerant circulation subsystem, comprising: i) a heat spreader configured to be placed in thermal contact with said device under test; ii) an evaporator in thermal contact with said heat spreader configured to dissipate heat from said heat spreader by evaporation of said cooled second refrigerant flowing through said evaporator; and iii) a resistive heater located between said evaporator and said heat spreader and in thermal contact with said heat spreader and said evaporator, configured to provide heat in accordance with a current applied to said heater; wherein said second conduit circuit is configured to define at least one closed loop through which said second refrigerant is circulatable via said evaporator, so that, during circulation, said second refrigerant is maintained in liquid phase between said heat exchanger and said evaporator and at least partially in a gaseous phase while flowing through said evaporator; wherein said temperature-forcing head is formed as two parts that are mutually attachable and detachable, a first one of said parts comprising said resistive heater and said heat spreader and a second one of said parts comprising said evaporator.