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IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

DC-SQUID electronics based on adaptive positive feedback: experiments

Heikki Seppä, A. Ahonen, Jukka Knuutila, Juha Simola, V. Volkman

Published Mar 1, 1991• 41 citations
Publisher

Abstract

It is shown that DC-SQUID read-out electronics can be realized utilizing positive feedback without deteriorating the SQUID noise performance. The required gain rise is achieved by interconnecting the SQUID output and a flux modulation coil via a cooled FET acting as a voltage-controlled resistor; different SQUIDs with different types of FETs have been studied experimentally. Possible ways of adaptively controlling the feedback gain produced by the positive feedback are briefly discussed.

DOI
10.1109/20.133723

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Journal of Applied Physics•Jul 1, 1988•10 citations
It is shown that DC-SQUID read-out electronics can be realized utilizing positive feedback without deteriorating the SQUID noise performance. The required gain rise is achieved by interconnecting the SQUID output and a flux modulation coil via a cooled FET acting as a voltage-controlled resistor; different SQUIDs with different types of FETs have been studied experimentally. Possible ways of adaptively controlling the feedback gain produced by the positive feedback are briefly discussed.
An improved read-out electronics without flux modulation for dc superconducting quantum interference devices (dc SQUIDs) is presented where the preamplifier is directly coupled to the SQUID. Compared to our previous designs, the 1/f voltage and current noise levels of the preamplifier were reduced by about a factor of 4 (rms) by using bipolar matched transistors instead of operational amplifiers at the input. Three types of flux-locked-loop electronics were developed and successfully tested: a low-power (120 mW) version for large multichannel arrays, a high-speed version with a 15 MHz bandwidth and a very fast (300 ns) reset mode, and a low-noise (0.44 nV/Hz) version with a fast and precise bias reversal circuit. The flux-locked-loop electronics are compatible with each other, so that only one type of low-power (180 mW) control unit is required to operate them. All essential specifications of practical SQUID systems (noise, dynamic behavior, and temperature stability) were determined by using liquid-helium and liquid-nitrogen cooled SQUIDs, respectively.
Abstract We have developed a dc-SQUID amplifiers with intra-coil resistors based on second-order parallel gradiometers. The measured results show that intra-coil resistors can significantly increase the flux-voltage transfer coefficient VΦ as well as smooth out resonances and produce a smooth flux-voltage (V-Φ) characteristic curve. It has been observed through a comparison of various intra-coil damping resistors that the flux-voltage transfer coefficient VΦ as a function of the intra-coil resistors rises as the corresponding electric conductance increase. The measured results of the flux noise at 4.2 K demonstrate explicitly that the flux-voltage transfer coefficient can greatly increase detection sensitivity and successfully reduce the noise contribution from the electronics operating at room temperature.
User-friendly ultra-high-speed readout electronics for dc superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) are presented. To maximize the system bandwidth, the SQUID is directly read out without flux modulation. A composite preamplifier is used consisting of a slow dc amplifier in parallel with a fast ac amplifier. In this way, excellent dc precision and a high amplifier bandwidth of 50 MHz are achieved, simultaneously. A virtual 50 Ω amplifier input resistance with negligible excess noise is realized by active shunting, i.e., by applying feedback from preamplifier output to input via a high resistance. The white voltage and current noise levels are 0.33 nV Hz −1 and 2.6 pA Hz −1/2 , respectively. The electronics is fully computer controlled via a microcontroller integrated into the flux-locked loop (FLL) board. Easy-to-use software makes the various electronic settings accessible. A wide bias voltage range of 1.3 mV enables the readout of series SQUID arrays. Furthermore, additional current sources allow the operation of two-stage SQUIDs or transition edge sensors. The electronics was tested using various SQUIDs with input inductances between 30 nH and 1.5 µH. Typically, the maximum FLL bandwidth was 20 MHz, which is close to the theoretical limit given by transmission line delay within the FLL. Slew rates of up to 4.6 Φ 0 µs −1 were achieved with series SQUID arrays. Current noise levels as low as 0.47 pA Hz −1/2 and coupled energy sensitivities between 90 h and 500 h were measured at 4.2 K, where h is the Planck constant. The noise did not degrade when the system bandwidth was increased to the maximum value of about 20 MHz. With a two-stage set-up, intrinsic white energy sensitivities of 30 h and 2.3 h were measured at 4.2 and 0.3 K, respectively.
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We report on the continuous feedback operation of a two-stage dc Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) system in which one SQUID works as a low-noise preamplifier to read out a second low-noise sensor SQUID. We first flux-locked the readout SQUID and measured the characteristics of the sensor SQUID, including its current-voltage characteristics, current-flux characteristics, and noise spectrum. We then investigated how the two SQUIDs could work together by simultaneously flux-locking both the sensor and the readout SQUIDs. With this two-SQUID flux-locking scheme, we recovered the noise spectrum of the sensor SQUID to within 4%. We discuss how to understand and optimize the two-stage SQUID feedback system.