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Applied Physics Letters

Low-noise YBa2Cu3O7 rf SQUID magnetometer

Yi Zhang, H.-M. Mück, Klaus Dieter Herrmann, Jürgen Schubert, W. Zander, Alex I. Braginski, Christoph Heiden

Published Feb 3, 1992• 81 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A superconducting quantum interferometer device (SQUID) electronics with tank frequencies near 150 MHz was constructed to enhance the rf SQUID sensitivity. By these means we characterized our YBa2Cu3O7 thin-film rf SQUIDs with step-edge junctions immersed in liquid N2. We obtained transfer function values of over 40 μV/Φ0, at a 50 Ω input impedance, for both hysteretic and dispersive mode of rf SQUID operation. The rms white and 1/f flux noise levels were significantly lower than at the tank frequency of 20 MHz. The best magnetic field sensitivity at 77 K was 0.9 pT/Hz1/2, and the energy resolution 1.4×10−28 J/Hz, down to 0.3 Hz.

DOI
10.1063/1.106580

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A superconducting quantum interferometer device (SQUID) electronics with tank frequencies near 150 MHz was constructed to enhance the rf SQUID sensitivity. By these means we characterized our YBa2Cu3O7 thin-film rf SQUIDs with step-edge junctions immersed in liquid N2. We obtained transfer function values of over 40 μV/Φ0, at a 50 Ω input impedance, for both hysteretic and dispersive mode of rf SQUID operation. The rms white and 1/f flux noise levels were significantly lower than at the tank frequency of 20 MHz. The best magnetic field sensitivity at 77 K was 0.9 pT/Hz1/2, and the energy resolution 1.4×10−28 J/Hz, down to 0.3 Hz.
We have developed a technique which permits high-yield fabrication of microbridges and low noise YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) in epitaxial thin films. These SQUIDs operate over a wide temperature range extending from 4 K to close to the superconducting transition temperature. Measurements of an rf SQUID operating at 77 K give a peak-to-peak flux sensitivity of 36 μV/Φ0 and a flux noise at 10 Hz of 1.5× 10−4 Φ0/√Hz. Device yields over 80% have been obtained.
The operation of YBa2Cu3O7 rf superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) using a dielectric SrTiO3 resonator as tank circuit was tested. At 77 K, we attained for such resonators unloaded quality factors Q0 up to 7000 at resonant frequencies near 1 GHz, when measuring without electromagnetic shielding. For a washer SQUID with an area of 4×4 mm2 and an inductance of ≂100 pH, which was properly coupled to the resonator, we measured an approximately 60 μV peak-to-peak SQUID signal and a white flux noise spectral density of SΦ1/2=1×10−5Φ0/√Hz, corresponding to a field sensitivity of BN=105 fT/√Hz. With an additional single-layer flux transformer with a diameter of the pickup loop of 22 mm in flip-chip arrangement, the field sensitivity was improved to 30 fT/√Hz.
We have developed a novel coplanar resonator serving as a tank circuit for radio frequency washer superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). Two coplanar lines surrounded the circular flux concentrator washer, 13.4 mm in diameter. The SQUID, 3.5 mm in diameter, was coupled to the concentrator in the flip-chip configuration. All parts were fabricated from single-layer epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7 films on LaAlO3 substrates. In this layout, the resonant frequency could be set between 600 and 850 MHz. With SQUID loops of 100×100 μm2 (SQUID) inductance Ls=150 pH or 10×500 μm2 (Ls=260 pH), we determined at 77 K white flux noise levels Sφ1/2 of 1.0×10−5 and 1.5×10−5φ0/Hz, respectively. Both figures corresponded to the field resolution of about 30 fT/Hz.
We have performed a study of the low-frequency noise in high-temperature radio frequency (rf) superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) cooled in static magnetic fields. At 77 K, the noise of different thin-film YB2C3O7−x washer rf SQUIDs was measured in static magnetic fields up to 55 μT. The SQUID inductances ranged from 150 to 300 pH. The measured low-frequency flux noise of the SQUIDs SΦ1/2 at 1 Hz was between 70 and 350 μΦ0/√Hz, and in terms of magnetic field noise SB1/2 between 120 and 1100 fT/√Hz. The low-frequency noise of all devices at 1 Hz showed no significant increase for all applied static fields.
We fabricated and characterized microwave rf SQUIDs integrated into a planar, S-shaped λ/2 microstrip resonator. This 3 GHz resonator was fabricated from a pulsed-laser-deposited YBa2Cu3O7 epitaxial film. The SQUID structures incorporated double step-edge junctions and had a loop inductance of 120 pH. Such unoptimized SQUIDs operated between 4.2 and 85 K with dV/dΦ=18–20 μV/Φ0 at 77 K. At that temperature, the energy resolution of (8±2)×10−29 J/Hz above 0.1 Hz (in the best samples) was limited by the white noise, SΦ1/2=(7±1)×10−5 Φ0/Hz1/2. Optimization may increase dV/dΦ and improve the energy resolution by up to an order of magnitude.
Ultrahigh frequency rf-SQUID magnetometer employing a cryogenic preamplifier and a commercially available thin film rf-SQUID sensor have been designed, manufactured, and tested. The system has been operated at 316 MHz, which is the maximum pump frequency accepted by the thin film sensor. The cryogenic preamplifier has been built around a microwave high-electron-mobility transistor which was made unconditionally stable at ultrahigh frequency band by means of an appropriate circuit design, namely, a cascode configuration. The total flux noise of the magnetometer has been found to be 8.4 × 10−6Φ0/√Hz at 4.2 K and 5.8× 10−6Φ0/√Hz at 1.4 K. The temperature dependence of the fractional step rise α of the current-voltage rf characteristic has been measured to be proportional to the 2/3 power of the SQUID sensor temperature. The noise performance of the system at 4.2 K has been limited by the intrinsic SQUID noise only, in good agreement with theoretical predictions.