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Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics

Review of low-noise radio-frequency amplifiers based on superconducting quantum interference device

Y.H. Lee, Yonuk Chong, Yannis Kyriakos Semertzidis

Published Dec 31, 2014• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.9714/psac.2014.16.4.001

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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.
Superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) are promising for detection of extremely weak power regimes for the Internet of Things and long-distance satellite networks. In low-frequency magnetic signal measurements, it has demonstrated superior performance over the traditional systems. We review the resistively and capacitively shunted junction model of dc SQUIDs and investigate its transfer function to magnetic flux signals while taking thermal fluctuation into account. We numerically evaluate the influence of bias current and bias flux signal to determine the operating parameters of the device. The performances related to SQUID ring inductance operating at 4.2 K and 77 K are demonstrated. Combined with common radio frequency front-end modules, including low-noise amplifier and low-pass filter, we evaluate the bit-error-rate performance of the system under different inductance values and inferred that the sensitivity of the system can reach −99 dBm at 100 MHz bandwidth.
Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) have been used for more than a decade for the detection of magnetic resonance. Until recently, these devices had mostly been confined to operation in the audiofrequency range, so that experiments have been restricted to measurements of resonance at low frequencies, or of changes in the static susceptibility of a sample induced by rf irradiation at the resonant frequency. However, the recent extension of the operating range of low noise dc SQUIDs to radiofrequencies (rf) allows one to detect magnetic resonance directly at frequencies up to several hundred megahertz. In this paper, we begin by summarizing the properties of dc SQUIDs as tuned rf amplifers. We then describe first, the development of a SQUID system for the detection of pulsed nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) at about 30 MHz and second, a novel technique for observing magnetic resonances in the absence of any externally applied rf fields.
Radio-frequency (RF) amplifiers based on direct current (DC) superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) have low-noise performance for precision physics experiments. Gain curves of SQUID RF amplifiers depend on several parameters of the SQUID and operation conditions. We are developing SQUID RF amplifiers for application to measure very weak RF signals from ultra-low-temperature high-magnetic-field microwave cavity in axion search experiments. In this study, we designed, fabricated and characterized SQUID RF amplifiers with different SQUID parameters, such as number of input coil turn, shunt resistance value of the junction and coupling capacitance in the input coil, and compared the results.
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.
SQUIDs are an attractive candidate for the amplification of low-level rf and microwave signals. Compared to semiconductor amplifiers, they offer lower noise and much lower power dissipation. Especially at frequencies below 1 GHz, the improvement in noise temperature compared to the best cold semiconductor amplifiers can be as high as 50; noise temperatures only slightly above the quantum limit have been achieved in this frequency range. This article will review the current status of radio-frequency amplifiers based on dc SQUIDs and provide detailed discussions of amplifier noise temperature, input and output impedance, and nonlinearities.
A low noise radiofrequency amplifier (10), using a dc SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) as the input amplifying element. The dc SQUID (11) and an input coil (12) are maintained at superconductivity temperatures in a superconducting shield (13), with the input coil (12) inductively coupled to the superconducting ring (17) of the dc SQUID (11). A radiofrequency signal from outside the shield (13) is applied to the input coil (12), and an amplified radiofrequency signal is developed across the dc SQUID ring (17) and transmitted to exteriorly of the shield (13). A power gain of 19.5.+-.0.5 dB has been achieved with a noise temperature of 1.0.+-.0.4 K. at a frequency of 100 MHz.