JPH06265640A - Peltier cooling semiconductor detector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve cooling efficiency by using a heat pipe as a cooling shaft for connecting a semiconductor detector and a Peltier element. CONSTITUTION:A Peltier element 2 cools a semiconductor detector 1 for detecting radiation. A heat sink 3 is used for heat dissipation of the Peltier element. The inside of a cryostat 5 is kept at high vauum degree with an ion pump 4. The film of kryllium or macromolecules is attached as an incident window on the top part of the cryostat 5. Single or a plurality of heat pipes 6a corresponding to cooling shafts are used for cooling the semiconductor detector 1 located at a place separated from the Peltier element. The thermal conductivity, which is larger than a cooling shaft made of copper by the extraordinary amount is obtained. A heat shield 7 has the pipe-shape structure so as to surround the heat pipes 6 and the semiconductor detector 1. The heat shield 7 is connected to the place, which is lower than the uppermost stage of the Peltier element 2 by one stage and cooled. The heat shield is used as the shield for radiation heat.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to Peltier cooled semiconductor detectors for the purpose of detecting radiation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The main structure of a conventional Peltier cooled semiconductor detector is shown in FIGS. In FIG. 2, a semiconductor detector 1 for detecting radiation is connected to a Peltier element 2 for cooling the semiconductor detector 1 via a cooling shaft 6. The Peltier element 2 is connected to a heat sink 3 for radiating heat from the Peltier element 2. Moreover, the above-mentioned thing is arrange | positioned inside the cryostat 5, and the ion pump 4 for keeping the inside of the cryostat 5 high vacuum is provided. The cooling shaft 6 is for cooling the semiconductor detector 1 which is located away from the Peltier element 2, and is usually made of copper or the like having good heat conductivity.

In FIG. 3, the heat shield 7 has a pipe-like structure surrounding the cooling shaft 6 and the semiconductor detector 1, and is usually connected to a lower stage than the uppermost stage of the Peltier element 2 for cooling. In particular, it is used as a radiant heat shield.

[0004]

However, in the conventional Peltier cooling semiconductor detector, although the cooling shaft 6 is made of copper, the cooling efficiency is not so good. Further, when the cooling shaft is long, the weight of the shaft 6 itself becomes large, the load applied to the Peltier element 2 becomes large, and the Peltier element 2 is damaged.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention improves the cooling efficiency by using a heat pipe as a cooling shaft and keeps the cooling temperature of the semiconductor detector as high as possible in the uppermost stage of the Peltier device. The temperature is brought close to the temperature to improve the performance as a detector. Also,
Weight reduction can also be achieved by using a heat pipe. Furthermore, there is also a means of connecting the heat pipe and the Peltier element with a stranded wire such as copper.

[0006]

In the Peltier-cooled semiconductor detector configured as described above, the heat pipe quickly transfers the heat on the cooling side of the Peltier element to the detector to improve the cooling efficiency. The heat pipe is a pipe in which a working liquid moves in a hollow pipe while repeatedly evaporating and condensing to take heat from a high temperature portion and radiate the heat to a low temperature portion. Since the heat pipe is hollow and lightweight, the load on the Peltier device can be reduced. In addition, the load on the Peltier element can be reduced by connecting the heat pipe and the Peltier element with a stranded wire such as copper that can be freely bent.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In the figure, 1 is a semiconductor detector for detecting radiation, 2 is a Peltier element for cooling the semiconductor detector 1, 3 is a heat sink for radiating heat from the Peltier element 2,
Reference numeral 4 is an ion pump for maintaining a high vacuum inside the cryostat 5. A beryllium or polymer film (not shown) is attached to the top of the cryostat 5 as an entrance window.

Reference numeral 6a corresponds to a conventional cooling shaft 6 which is composed of a single or a plurality of heat pipes. The heat pipe 6a is for cooling the semiconductor detector 1 which is located away from the Peltier element 2, and has a thermal conductivity that is orders of magnitude higher than that of a copper cooling shaft which is said to have good thermal conductivity. . 7 is a heat shield, and a cooling shaft 6
Also, it has a pipe-like structure surrounding the semiconductor detector 1 and is connected to a stage below the uppermost stage of the Peltier element to be cooled, and is particularly used as a shield for radiant heat.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The heat shield 7 is fixed to the inner wall of the cryostat 5 by a plurality of support rings 9. The support ring 9 is made of a material having poor heat conduction, such as silicon rubber or fluffy rubber, and can sufficiently cool the heat shield. The heat pipe 6a is also fixed to the inner wall of the heat shield 7 by the support ring 9 similar to the above. The heat pipe 6a itself has a very good thermal conductivity only in the hollow portion in which the working fluid circulates, and the heat conduction of the pipe material is not so good. Therefore, even in this case, the cooling efficiency is not much affected. By using such a support ring, the heat pipe 6
It is also possible to reduce the load on the Peltier element by connecting the a and the Peltier element 2 with the stranded wire 10 made of copper or the like which can be freely bent. This is particularly effective when using a Peltier element having a large number of stages and a small uppermost portion.

In the above, a plurality of heat pipes 6a may be used to connect the semiconductor detector 1 and the Peltier device 2. Further, in the above, the semiconductor detector 1
It is also possible to use one heat pipe 6a and the copper stranded wire 10 for connecting the Peltier device 2 to the Peltier element 2.

Furthermore, in the above, a plurality of heat pipes 6a and a copper strand 0 may be used to connect the semiconductor detector 1 and the Peltier element 2.

[0012]

As described above, according to the present invention, by using the heat pipe as the cooling shaft, the cooling efficiency is improved, and the cooling temperature of the semiconductor detector is made as close as possible to the temperature of the uppermost stage of the Peltier element. The performance as is improved. Moreover, since the heat pipe is hollow and lightweight, the load on the Peltier device can be reduced. Furthermore, the load on the Peltier element can be reduced by connecting the heat pipe and the Peltier element with a stranded wire such as copper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the main structure of a Peltier-cooled semiconductor detector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional method of Peltier cooled semiconductor detector.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another conventional method of Peltier cooled semiconductor detector.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the main structure of a Peltier cooled semiconductor detector according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Semiconductor Detector 2 Peltier Element 3 Heat Sink 4 Ion Pump 5 Cryostat 6 Cooling Shaft 6a Heat Pipe 7 Heat Shield 8 Support Ring 10 Stranded Wire such as Freely Bendable Copper

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A semiconductor detector for detecting radiation,
Peltier element for cooling the semiconductor detector, heat sink for radiating heat from the Peltier element, ion pump for maintaining a high vacuum inside the cryostat, cooling for cooling the semiconductor detector located away from the Peltier element A semiconductor detector having a shaft, wherein a single heat pipe is used to connect the semiconductor detector and the Peltier element to each other.