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Review of Scientific Instruments

Flux-bias stabilization scheme for a radio-frequency amplifier based on a superconducting quantum interference device

Michael Mück, John L. Clarke

Published Sep 1, 2001• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A magnetic flux stabilization scheme involving a low-frequency flux-locked loop has been developed to regulate the gain of a radio-frequency amplifier based on a superconducting quantum inteference device (SQUID). The flux-locked loop largely eliminates drifts in the gain arising from drifts in the flux bias. Tests on a microstrip SQUID amplifier operating at 777 MHz inside a superconducting shield show that the peak-to-peak drift in the gain is no more than 0.3 dB/day.

DOI
10.1063/1.1389498

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A magnetic flux stabilization scheme involving a low-frequency flux-locked loop has been developed to regulate the gain of a radio-frequency amplifier based on a superconducting quantum inteference device (SQUID). The flux-locked loop largely eliminates drifts in the gain arising from drifts in the flux bias. Tests on a microstrip SQUID amplifier operating at 777 MHz inside a superconducting shield show that the peak-to-peak drift in the gain is no more than 0.3 dB/day.
A dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) was used to amplify radio-frequency signals that were coupled to one end of the microstrip formed by the input coil and the SQUID washer. For one device, the resonant frequency of the microstrip was increased from about 200 to 620 MHz by progressively shortening the length of the coil. At an operating temperature of 4.2 K, the gain was typically 18 dB, and the system noise temperature ranged from 0.5±0.3 K at 80 MHz to 3.0±0.7 K at 500 MHz.
A series of about twenty superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) has been operated as microstrip-SQUID amplifiers (MSAs) at frequencies ranging from 100 MHz to 2 GHz to study the dependence of their gain and noise temperature on bias current and flux. The measured values were in good agreement with theory. The observed dependence of MSA gain and noise temperature on bias current and flux resembled the static transfer function of the SQUIDs. The gains are relatively insensitive to changes in bias current and bias flux; the noise temperature is strongly dependent on the bias flux.
We have developed a radio frequency bias current scheme with reversal frequency up to 50 MHz for dc superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). The SQUID and the readout electronics, were connected via a quarter wavelength (/spl lambda//4) transmission line. This transmission line not only transported the SQUID signal, but also served as the resonant matching circuit. For a dc SQUID of inductance 115 pH (loop size 75/spl times/75 /spl mu/m/sup 2/), we measured a flux noise of 33 /spl mu//spl phi//sub 0///spl radic/Hz at 77 K in the flux locked loop configuration. The corner frequency of 1/f noise was less than 0.5 Hz.
The resonant frequency of an amplifier based on a low-temperature dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) is tuned by varying the capacitance across the end of the input microstrip by means of a varactor diode. The resonant frequency can be reduced substantially, for example, from 190 to 110 MHz, while maintaining an on-resonance gain of 27–28 dB. Two microstrip SQUID amplifiers with the same resonant frequency are cascaded to achieve a gain of 33.5±1 dB at 386 MHz; with the SQUIDs tuned to different frequencies, the gain is 22 dB or higher from about 260 to 420 MHz.
Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) is a sensitive detector of magnetic flux signals. Up to now, the main application of SQUIDs has been measurements of magnetic flux signals in the frequency range from near DC to several MHz. Recently, cryogenic low-noise radio-frequency (RF) amplifiers based on DC SQUID are under development aiming to detect RF signals with sensitivity approaching quantum limit. In this paper, we review the recent progress of cryogenic low-noise RF amplifiers based on SQUID technology.
DC Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) are widely used to amplify low-level, radio frequency (rf) electrical signals. SQUID amplifiers offer low noise, high gain, and low power dissipation. One method of implementing a SQUID rf amplifier for frequencies from a few hundred megahertz to several gigahertz is to operate the integrated input coil on top of the SQUID washer as a microstrip resonator. This is achieved by applying the input signal between one end of the coil and the SQUID washer, which acts as a groundplane; the other end of the coil is left open. Substantial levels of gain can be achieved from the microstrip SQUID amplifier for a signal frequency at the fundamental resonant frequency of the microstrip, at which the length of the microstrip is equal to one-half wavelength, λ/2. Since the length of the microstrip has to be made shorter for higher frequencies, however, the mutual inductance between a SQUID with a given geometry and the microstrip—and thus the gain—decreases with increasing frequency. We show that a significantly enhanced gain can be achieved by operating the microstrip resonator in higher-order modes, for example, with a microstrip length of 3λ/2 or 5λ/2, provided the winding sense of the microstrip for each consecutive λ/2 section is reversed. For a 4λ/2 resonator, we demonstrate a gain of 24 dB at 2.6 GHz, an increase in gain of about 10 dB compared to a λ/2 resonator on a SQUID of the same geometry and characteristics.