A helium mini-cryostat for the nanoprobe beamline ID16B at ESRF: characteristics and performance.

A helium mini-cryostat has been developed for the hard X-ray nanoprobe ID16B of the European Synchrotron to collect X-ray excited optical luminescence and X-ray fluorescence at low temperature (<10 K). The mini-cryostat has been specifically designed to fit within the strong space restrictions and high-demanding mechanical constraints imposed by the beamline to provide vibration-free operation and maximal thermal stability. This paper reports the detailed design, architecture and technical requirements of the mini-cryostat, and presents the first experimental data measured using the cryogenic equipment.

Note: Improved wire-wound heater.

The authors have measured, at cryogenic temperature, the upper limit of the heat transfer in different configurations of a wire-wound heater. We found that the heat transferred has an upper limit of about 15 W/cm(2) and is dependent on the diameter of the wire. In this paper, we present three ways of increasing the heat transferred by this type of heater and its application in different continuous flow cryostats.