Orange & Cryogen-Free Cryostats

The standard ILL "Orange" Cryostat was developed (in 6 months) by D. Brochier and S. Pujol at ILL in 1975 to meet the needs of experimentalists. At that time, the +30 cryostats acquired from British, German and US companies were slow, requiring large quantities of cryogens and unable to control the sample temperature with precision. The main requirements were for a robust and simple to use yet high performance cryostat suitable for neutron scattering.

The main features of the "Orange" cryostat include large-sample top-loading capability, isolated sample area with static exchange gas, low helium consumption and fast sample cycling times. Several variants of this standard cryostat are available to accommodate different sample dimensions and uses. The standard sample access dimensions are of Ø50, 70 and 100 mm. All orange cryostats can be supplied with helium and nitrogen level monitors with auto-fill capability and a helium pumping system if required. The Ø50 and 70 mm cryostats may be equipped with dilution insert systems lowering the base temperature to 40 mK.

In response to scientists' needs, the cryogenics team have developed bottom- and top-loading closed-cycle cryostats. The main advantages compared to a "wet" cryostat are that they do not require cryogens (liquid helium and/or liquid nitrogen) and low temperatures can be achieved at the push of a button. These ILL dry "Orange" cryostats use cold-heads which employ mostly the Gifford-McMahon refrigeration cycle. The Ø70 top-loading cryostats can host a Ø49 heating insert and the temperature ranges from 3.6 to 650K (IN1-Lagrange, IN13-CRG). A small number of very compact bottom-loading cryostats are also available. They were developed to reach 1.8 K in the cradles of diffractometers (D9, D10 and D19).

Some of the cryostats and sample sticks are available from a pool on request. Sufficient advance notice to sane(at)ill.fr is required for their reservation and preparation. Other cryostats are assigned to specific instruments. The scientific and technical staff of the instruments are in charge of their maintenance. However, major repairs and modifications are carried out in the workshop of the Services for Advanced Neutron Environment team.

All requests for liquid helium should be be made at least 48 hours in advance. Please arrange with your Local Contact to order your helium. If you are not familiar with transferring liquid helium between dewar and cryostat, please do not hesitate to call for assistance from your Local Contact or directly from the Services for Advanced Neutron Environment team.