Design and Analysis for Flexure Hinge Concept for Detector of ITER Bolometer Sensor
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Bolometer sensors are based on Platinum absorber, which are deposited on thin Silicon or Silicon Nitride membranes (3µm). These absorb the plasma light and the resulting temperature increase is used as measure for the plasma power.
Due to the different coefficients of thermal expansion between Silicon and Platinum and the induced temperature increase of several 100K, significant mechanical stress levels are generated in the Silicon membrane
Previous experiments and FE analyses showed that especially the transition area between the detector membrane and the 600µm thick base Silicon substrate are critical
By introducing Silicon flexure hinges between the detector membrane and the substrate, the mechanical stress levels could be reduced significantly.
The design of the flexure hinges as well as their effectiveness have been verified by extensive FE analyses and optimization.
Furthermore, the flexure hinges have been implemented in prototype detectors and their thermos-mechanical strength has been verified in respective experiments.