Ricor's Articles

The world growth in research and development of High Operating Temperature (HOT) IR detectors impels development and optimization of suitable cryocoolers. The current developments at RICOR are focused on the SWAP-oriented design process, meaning small Size, low Weight and low Power consumption, providing proper cryocoolers for future hand held thermal imagers.

 The growing demand for Electro Optic (EO) applications that work around the clock 24hr/7days a week, such as in border surveillance systems, emphasizes the need for a highly reliable Cryocooler having increased operational availability and decreased integrated system Life Cycle (ILS) cost. In order to meet this need, RICOR has developed Integral Rotary and Split Linear Cryocoolers technologies which meet this challenge. 

The world growth in research and development of High Operating Temperature IR detectors impels the development process and the optimization of HOT Cryocoolers at RICOR. The development emphasizes the “SWaP” configuration which is Small Size, Low Weight and Low Power consumption, in order to optimize IDDCA for future hand held thermal sights and other various applications. 

The Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) landed successfully on Mars on August 5, 2012, eight months after launch. The chosen landing site of Gale Crater, located at 4.5 degrees south latitude, 137.4 degrees east longitude, has provided a much more benign environment than was originally planned for during the critical design and integration phases of the MSL Project when all possible landing sites were still being considered.

The world growth in research and development of High Operating Temperature IR detectors impels the development process and the optimization of rotary crycoolers at RICOR. The design aspects of size weight and power and the tradeoffs between them, were taken into consideration during the development process in order to optimize IDDCA for future hand held thermal sights.

The growing demand for EO applications that work around the clock 24hr/7days a week, such as in border surveillance systems, emphasizes the need for a highly reliable cryocooler having increased operational availability and decreased integrated system Life Cycle (ILS) cost. In order to meet this need RICOR has developed a new rotary Stirling cryocooler, model K508N, intended to double the K508’s operating MTTF achieving 20,000 operating MTTF hours.

The growth in world demand for infrared missile warning systems (MWS) has impelled the development of new technologies, in particular, special cryogenic coolers. Since the cryocooler is a core component in MWS RICOR has met the challenge by developing new models able to withstand high ambient temperatures above 110°C as well as harsh vibration levels, both derived from airborne fighter applications.

 The growing demand for EO applications that work around the clock 24hr/7days a week, such as in border surveillance, emphasizes the need for a highly reliable cryocooler from maintenance considerations and Life Cycle Cost calculations. As a result, RICOR developed a new rotary Stirling model K508N with a main design goal of 20,000 operating hours, double the operating hours performance of the standard K508 model.

The Chemistry Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument is being built for use on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) to make precision measurements of mineral constituents of Mars rocks and soil. The instrument uses a commercially available Ricor K508 Stirling cycle cryocooler to cool a CCD to 173K to make X-ray diffraction spectroscopy measurements.

Over the recent 25 years Ricor has fielded in excess of 50,000 Stirling cryocoolers, among which approximately 30,000 units are of micro integral rotary driven type. The statistical population of the fielded units is counted in thousands/hundreds per application category.