GRE were asked by The Science & Technology Facilities Council to design and supply a Helium Cooling System for one of the most advanced laser amplifiers in the world.

GRE were privileged to be asked to be a partner in this exciting project.
The entire system was a bespoke design developed and manufactured by GRE including tailored software based on Siemens PLC and HMI.
The design was based on liquid nitrogen with a heat exchanger to cool helium gas in the range of 90K up to 320K (-183°C to +47°C)

Key Features:

• Suitable for ultra-high vacuum applications, and therefore immaculately clean and free from any trace of oil grease, swarf, dust.
• Set point is adjustable from 90K to 320K with a control tolerance of ± 0.5K
• Rate of temperature ramp tightly controlled to avoid thermal stress
• Temperature stability within 5 minutes of reaching set point
• Liquid Nitrogen level controlled independently with pneumatic valve
• Helium temperature controlled by pair of pneumatic valves in a flow / bypass configuration.
• Helium operation pressure 2 to 25 barg
• Colour touchscreen HMI with trend graphs on key operating factors

The improved thermal performance led to a higher pulse energy, increased repetition rates and improved efficiency. The result is that a precise laser wavelength is maintained, desired beam quality is achieved, and there is reduced thermal stress on a laser system.
This GRE unit is now providing precise and highly effective cooling for the next generation of laser amplifiers – used in cuUng edge laser research across many applications.