Title :
Cryogenic CMOS-based control system
Author :
van Niekerk, P.C. ; Fourie, C.J.
Author_Institution :
Stellenbosch Univ., Stellenbosch
Abstract :
This article describes the design and evaluation of a CMOS-based control system for use in cryogenic vacuum environments. A control system, with accompanying software, was designed to interface superconductive digital and sensor circuits in a cryocooler to portable computers at room temperature. It is designed to operate as close as possible to the superconductors to reduce thermal noise. The controller connects via a fibre optical RS-232 interface to any USB connector on a computer at a data rate of 1 Megabaud. The interface to the superconductor electronics consists of 16-bit ultra low-noise ADCs and DACs. Extensive research and testing was done on all components - both active and passive - to validate operation at 60 K. An integrated temperature control system was designed to ensure a stable temperature environment. Results are shown and discussed.
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; analogue-digital conversion; cryogenics; digital-analogue conversion; system buses; temperature control; ADC; CMOS-based control system; DAC; USB connector; cryocooler; cryogenic vacuum; fibre optical RS-232 interface; integrated temperature control system; interface superconductive digital circuits; sensor circuits; superconductor electronics; thermal noise; Control systems; Cryogenics; Optical noise; Sensor systems; Software design; Software systems; Superconductivity; Temperature control; Temperature sensors; Vacuum systems; CMOS-based control system; Superconductor interface;
Conference_Titel :
AFRICON 2007
Conference_Location :
Windhoek
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-0987-7
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-0987-7
DOI :
10.1109/AFRCON.2007.4401493
