Manufactured with state-of-the-art thermoelectric materials, high-temperature soldering, and proprietary automation, the MSX series increases cooling capacity by up to 10% compared to previous offerings. This enables steeper temperature differentials in optical packages with very tight space constraints, while operating within demanding power budgets. For manufacturers looking to accelerate design cycles and reduce integration risk, MSX also serves as a seamless pathway to value-added optical TEAs. By integrating the cooler directly into popular industry-standard TO-39, TO-46, TO-66, and TO-8 optical packages, it helps accelerate time to market and improve manufacturing quality.
Key advantages for imaging applications
Deep cooling for reduced thermal noise: MSX multistage coolers maintain control temperatures well below ambient, between -60 and -80 °C, for low vacuum thermal loads, significantly reducing thermal noise and improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in demanding CCD imaging applications. This enables sharper images and improved low-light performance in machine vision, satellite and astronomical imaging, and high-speed inspection.
Optimized for X-ray detectors: Stable operation, typically below -20 to -60 °C, with no outgassing to protect sensitive vacuum environments. This makes them ideal for integration into spectrometers, diffractometers, particle size analyzers, and handheld XRF instruments. By lowering detector temperature, MSX reduces leakage current and electronic noise, enabling accurate material identification and structural analysis in compact X-ray systems.
It enables compact IR designs: Multi-stage MSX devices control temperatures from −20 to −80 °C while fitting into small mechanical packages. With cold-side footprints as small as 2.0 × 4.0 mm and slim stack height profiles, they allow deep cooling in microscale optical heads for defense, gas detection, non-destructive testing (NDT), and security applications.
High performance in a small footprint: Advanced thermoelectric materials and high-packing-fraction P and N elements increase cooling capacity by up to 10% compared to standard TECs, while also increasing the COP. Solid-state construction, combined with low-gap welding processes, improves thermal uniformity, mechanical integrity, and reliability in the field. This offers temperature stabilization without maintenance and without outgassing.
“The MSX multi-stage platform, along with our integrated optical TEAs, allows design engineers to further push the boundaries of image quality while reducing system footprint. By combining deep, stable cooling with ultra-miniature TO packages and automated internal assembly, TTS minimizes integration complexity and accelerates time to market, so our customers can focus on improving sensor and detector performance,” said Andrew Dereka, Thermoelectric Product Manager at Tark Thermal Solutions.
