Cryogenic Design for the SAFARI Test-Setup Calibration Source

C. de Jonge[1], M. Eggens[1], W. Laauwen[1], P. Dieleman[1], G. Keizer[1]
[1]SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Published in 2013

For the SAFARI Imaging Spectrometer, part of the SPICA satellite payload, a Calibration Source is under development. Challenges in the design include the low cooling power (few mW) available at cryogenic temperatures. COMSOL Multiphysics® simulations were used extensively in the design process of the calibration source, allowing optimization of the thermal, electro-magnetic and mechanical properties of cryogenic Iris and Shutter mechanisms and the suspensions of a ‘Hot-Source’ and Integrating Sphere. The design of the calibration source is now past the conceptual stage and the actual hardware is being made and tested. The first tests of the Hot Source, Shutter and Iris showed that the results predicted by the COMSOL Multiphysics® modeling match the measurements very well.