Military & Aerospace Electronics Online - May 2011
Minus K Technology's Negative-Stiffness Vibration Isolators Selected for James Webb Space Telescope Ground Testing
Posted by Courtney E. Howard on May 16, 2011
GRAN SASSO, Italy, 16 May 2011. Italy's National Institute
of Nuclear Physics (INFN) employs three custom vibration
isolators for experiments within the Cryogenic Underground
Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE), located within Gran
Sasso mountain.
CUORE is a detector for neutrinoless double-beta decay and
other rare events, such as the detection of dark matter
like axions or weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs).
The new-generation, one-ton scale cryogenic detector will
have a total mass of roughly 3,300 pounds) and must be cooled
to less than 10 millikelvin in a vibration-free environment.
The cryostat is isolated by a two-stage isolation system:
the first stage by low-frequency Minus-K isolators using
patented Negative-Stiffness Mechanism (NSM) technology,
and the second isolation stage by regular springs at the
top end of the suspension bars.
"These isolators were not only made to isolate at 0.5
Hz, but they had to withstand a seismic shock while under
load," says Dr. David Platus, inventor of Negative-Stiffness
Mechanism vibration isolation. "The NSM isolators offer
better isolation performance than air or active isolation
systems."
Collaborators on the CUORE project includes a consortium
of members from UC Berkeley, UCLA, Livermore Lab, Berkeley
Lab, Cal Poly, University of Wisconsin, University of South
Carolina, University of Milan-Bicocca, University of Florence,
Leiden University, University of Zaragoza, University of
Rome, University of Genoa, University of Insubria, University
of Padua, National Institute Nuclear Physics (INFN), National
Laboratory of Legnaro, and Gran Sasso National Laboratory
in Italy.
Minus K Technology works with aerospace and education laboratories
for custom vibration isolation systems. It offers standard
bench top, table, and floor platform vibration isolation
products. The company was founded in 1993 to develop, manufacture,
and market state-of-the-art vibration isolation products
based on its patented Negative-Stiffness technology.
Gran Sasso mountain is the highest peak in the Apennines
about 100 km (62 miles) from Rome.