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Stirling cryocooler is a closed cycle regenerative refrigeration machine that produces cryogenic cooling by periodically compressing and expanding a fixed charge of working gas, normally helium, in a reversed Stirling cycle. The system consists principally of a compressor or pressure wave generator, a displacer or expansion piston, a regenerator, hot and cold heat exchangers, an expansion space, a cold finger and a heat rejection interface. During each oscillating cycle, the working gas is compressed near ambient temperature, transfers heat to the surroundings, passes through the regenerator, expands in the cold region and absorbs heat from the attached thermal load. The regenerator alternately stores and releases heat as the gas reverses direction, allowing the cold end to reach temperatures substantially below those attainable by conventional vapor compression refrigeration. Stirling cryocoolers may use rotary or linear drives and may be constructed in integral or split configurations. Linear machines commonly employ free pistons, flexure bearings or gas bearings to reduce wear, vibration and contamination. The delivered refrigeration is continuous at the system level even though pressure, mass flow and gas displacement oscillate within the machine.
