A capacitance based axial position sensor for cryocoolers

The recent development of a Stirling cryocooler designed to operate with a body temperature of less than 220 K required an axial motor position sensor which could operate over this temperature range. Although linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs), have traditionally been used, these are temperature dependent and would have required development due to integrated electronics, which could not be used at these low temperatures. A sensor was therefore developed based on the principle of measuring the capacitance between static and moving concentric rings. The design is presented along with the signal conditioning circuit. Experimental results show that the sensor had suitable bandwidth with a temperature independent gain between room temperature and 220 K. Future developments are described including a similar sensor to measure the radial motion of a motor during operation.