Thermal Convection and Stress Analysis of the Cooling System for a Terahertz Radiation Detector

Detailed three-dimensional numerical simulations have been carried out to find the velocity and temperature fields, in combination with shear and normal stresses, of the fluid flow inside a rectangular channel with large aspect-ratio. The channel under analysis is aimed to cool a thermochromic liquid crystal material (TLC) that is able to capture laser irradiation in the terahertz range. The TLC is manufactured on an extremely-thin substrate. The overall objective of the cooling system is to maintain a nearly-homogeneous temperature of the TLC-domain that is not exposed to the direct laser irradiation, while minimizing the deformation in the TLC caused by the fluid-solid interaction. The fluid flow, stress-strain and heat transfer simulations are carried out on the basis of three-dimensional Navier-Stokes and energy equations for an incompressible flow, coupled with the stress-strain equation for the TLC-layer, to determine values of velocity, pressure and temperature for the fluid inside the channel and the stresses and deformation of the TLC layer, under different operating conditions. These values are then used to find, from a specific set, the value of the channel gap that enables a nearly-uniform temperature distribution in the fluid and the least amount of deformation in the solid layer, within the expected operating conditions. Results from this analysis indicate that, for all the inlet velocities considered, there is a common value of the channel gap, that represents the optimum for the cooling system.