well, my brother in law is the rocket scientist (literally) and I am the mechanical designer. He pretty much says what the lab would like to do (make a small cold stage) and I hatch the idea for a month and try to supply them with parts or at least solid models and concepts.

so, that's my cottage industry.

anyway, diamond is the best thermal conductor. which is odd because it is also about the best electrical insulator. it's odd because the two usually go the other way. but not always. has to do with the molecular compactness of the carbon allows it to transmit energy without transfering charge.


anyway, plain copper will tarnish. if it's silver plated that's good. if it's diamond plated maybe that's even better? he says they can do the diamond deposition down the hall from him.

my thoughts were exactly silver soldering. but I/we need to look into wether that will handle the temps.

thanks for the note about the liquid nitrogen contaners. he only has used spun stainless dewars.