A critical review of pulse tube cryogenerator research

This paper is a synthesis of the state of the art in the design and theory of regenerative Pulse Tube cryogenic systems. A general outlook of the functional principles and of the processes occurring in these cryogenic systems is given. The main irreversibility sources are analyzed. A review of the important contributions on the subject, likely to improve the constructional and functional characteristics, is then presented, along with the evaluation of their scientific foundation.