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Review of Scientific Instruments

A readout system for 3-GHz rf-SQUIDs

Michael Mück

Published Apr 1, 1992• 14 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The layout and construction of a readout electronics for rf superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) with bias frequencies of 3 GHz are described. The electronics uses standard electronic components and can be aligned using a spectrum analyzer. Differences between a conventional 20-MHz electronics and this microwave readout are explained. Each individual circuit block is described and circuit diagrams as well as information for pc-board layout is given. A brief description of thin-film rf-SQUIDs used for experiments with this readout electronics is also included.

DOI
10.1063/1.1143149

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Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Jul 1, 1987•13 citations
The layout and construction of a readout electronics for rf superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) with bias frequencies of 3 GHz are described. The electronics uses standard electronic components and can be aligned using a spectrum analyzer. Differences between a conventional 20-MHz electronics and this microwave readout are explained. Each individual circuit block is described and circuit diagrams as well as information for pc-board layout is given. A brief description of thin-film rf-SQUIDs used for experiments with this readout electronics is also included.
We describe the fabrication and characterization of super Schottky diodes which are used in the cryogenic part of a 3 GHz radio frequency superconducting quantum interference device (rf SQUID) readout electronics. The diodes were prepared on silicon wafers with an n-doping level of 5×1024 m−3. They exhibited sensitivities of 1500 V−1 at 4.2 K, and a noise equivalent power of 2×10−15 W/√Hz was measured at 2.1 GHz. Using planar niobium 3 GHz rf SQUIDs and a cooled rf amplifier, experiments have been performed to investigate the feasibility of these super Schottky diodes for demodulation of the SQUID rf signal voltage. A simple cryogenic rf SQUID readout, employing two transistors and one super Schottky diode is described and investigated. Flux noise measurements in an open loop have been performed using this readout.
Conventional rf SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference devices) consist of a superconducting loop interrupted by one weak link, and when read out via a tank circuit they produce output signals in the order of a few tens of microvolts. When the single weak link is replaced by a dc SQUID (a superconducting loop with two junctions) a so-called double quantization loop SQUID is formed. In this paper it is shown theoretically, and supported experimentally with thin-film devices of three different designs, that the general behaviour can be explained by a simplified picture of the fixed critical current of the single junction of the rf SQUID being replaced by an effective critical current of a dc SQUID loop that is varied by the applied magnetic flux (i.e., we have a rf SQUID with a variable β parameter). A more detailed analysis of the experimental data and the theory of this novel device reveals its interesting nonlinear character and shows the deviations from this simple picture. It is demonstrated experimentally that output signals in the order of ≥1 mV can be obtained with a suitable read-out mode for the tank circuit, a clear advantage when compared to conventional rf SQUIDs. With respect to dc SQUIDs, the coupling to integrated planar input coils will be unproblematic since no microwave resonances should occur in the structures.
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.
We are developing a microwave readout multiplexer for arrays of superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). A series of microwave resonators with frequencies ∼10 GHz are each loaded by a dc SQUID to a degree that depends on the flux state of the SQUID. By using resonators with high quality factors and slightly different resonance frequencies, many of these resonator‐coupled SQUIDs may be read out with a single excitation line and cryogenic amplifier. Our multiplexer is similar to the one demonstrated by Irwin and Lehnert except for the use of higher‐frequency, fully‐lithographed transmission line resonators. We discuss a technique for modulating the SQUID array in series that alleviates the need to individually flux‐bias the SQUIDs. The multiplexer has applications to the readout of detector arrays for astronomy as well as medical magnetic imaging.
A detailed study has been made of the low-frequency excess noise of rf superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), fabricated from thin niobium films and operated at 4.2 K, with rf bias frequencies of 0.15, 1.7, and 3 GHz. When the SQUIDs were operated in an open-loop configuration in the absence of low-frequency flux modulation, the demodulated rf voltage exhibited a substantial level 1/f noise, which was essentially independent of the rf bias frequency. As the rf bias frequency was increased, the crossover frequency at which the 1/f noise power was equal to the white noise power moved to higher frequencies, because of the reduction in white noise. On the other hand, when the SQUID was flux modulated at 50 kHz and operated in a flux locked loop, no 1/f noise was observed at frequencies above 0.5 Hz. A detailed description of how the combination of rf bias and flux modulation removes 1/f noise due to critical current fluctuations is given. Thus, the results demonstrate that the 1/f noise observed in these SQUIDs is generated by critical current fluctuations, rather than by the hopping of flux vortices in the niobium films.
We have measured with high accuracy (100 ppm) and high precision (5--10 ppm) the impedance of a rf-driven resistive superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) as a function of the amplitude and frequency of the radio-frequency (rf) bias, as a function of the current bias, and as a function of several other circuit parameters. We have developed the coupled differential equations for the resistive SQUID and for the rf tank circuit. The fit of the solutions of these equations to the data for nonhysteretic junctions is excellent. We were unable to develop solutions for the hysteretic case and thus simply present examples of typical data obtained in order to illustrate the differences with the nonhysteretic case. The relationship of this study to noise thermometry using resistive SQUID's is indicated.