Sub-Kelvin temperatures in space

Abstract

It is pointed out that the use of temperatures below 1 K in space would provide a significant improvement in several areas of research. The sensitivity of bolometers, for instance, can be improvead by as much as a factor of 50, if the operating temperature is lowered from 1.5 K to 0.3 K. A decrease in temperature to 0.1 K can provide even an improvement up to three orders of magnitude. Detectors based on the utilization of such improvements could be employed for far-infrared (100-1000 microns) photometry and spectroscopy in the low-background conditions of space. The study of critical phenomena in He-3/He-4 mixtures is also of interest, taking into account investigations at the tricritical point (0.87 K), which represents the junction of a first-order and a second-order transition. Tests in space are needed because gravity-related effects make adequate tests on earth impossible. He-3 refrigeration can be used to attain temperatures below 1 K. Adiabatic demagnetization can produuce temperatures below 0.3 K.