High-Tc dc-SQUID magnetometer and its application in eddy current non-destructive evaluation

We have fabricated and tested a high-T_c dc-SQUID magnetometer patterned on a YBCO thin film deposited on a SrTiO₃ bicrystal substrate. The measurement of noise spectrum at 77 K showed that the magnetometer has a white noise of 333 fT/Hz^1/2 without superconducting shield, corresponding to a flux sensitivity of 14.5 μΦ₀/Hz^1/2. We constructed a test system for eddy current non-destructive evaluation of conducting aluminum plates by using the magnetometer. Flaws over 10 mm below the surface can be clearly identified. By mapping the magnetic field distribution, we can locate the flaw position. The signals caused by flaw were expanded due to the use of double-D type driving coil with a wider central slit. The experimental results confirmed that this test system could operate in a magnetic unshielded environment.     

An improved method for magnetic identification and localization of cracks in conductors

A SQUID magnetometer can be used to measure the magnetic field produced by flaws in a two-dimensional, conducting plate carrying a current. Identification of the flaw-induced magnetic field is difficult because of the large magnetic field associated with the edges of the plate and the current in the leads that connect the plate to the power supply. We have developed a technique by which the wire and edge fields can be cancelled prior to mapping the magnetic field. In this technique, a similar unflawed conducting sheet is placed adjacent to the flawed plate, with a connection between the sheet and the plate at one edge, and with the opposite edges of the sheet and of the plate connected to the two conductors of a coaxial cable. Thus, an applied current will flow along one conductor of the cable, across the cancelling sheet, cross into the flawed plate, return along the plate, and then return to the power supply along the other conductor of the coaxial cable. As a result of this geometry, there is no magnetic field from the lead-in wires because they are coaxial, and the magnetic field due to the edges of the plate is cancelled by the opposing magnetic field of the edges in the adjacent sheet. The extent of cancellation is determined primarily by the separation between the plate and the cancelling sheet, by the thickness of the plate, and by macroscopic inhomogeneities in their electrical conductivities.     

潜艇拖曳SQUID天线热噪声分析

本文研究利用超导量子干扰器(SQUID)来实现潜艇大潜深状态下对超低频信号的接收.在系统分析超导拖曳天线特性的基础上,详细地论述了超导拖曳天线热噪声的形成机理,讨论了热涨落参量与感应电流等参数时SQUID器件热噪声的影响,提出了通过控制热涨落参数、偏置电流以及外磁通等参数,可将热噪声对超导天线的环路电流和电压的影响大大降低这一降噪有效措施.     

Compact,ultra-low vibration,closed-cycle helium recycler for uninterrupted operation of MEG with SQUID magnetometers

A closed-cycle helium recycler was developed for continuous uninterrupted operation for magnetometer-based whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) systems. The recycler consists of a two stage 4 K pulse-tube cryocooler and is mounted on the roof of a magnetically shielded room (MSR). A flexible liquid helium (LHe) return line on the recycler is inserted into the fill port of the MEG system in the MSR through a slotted opening in the ceiling. The helium vapor is captured through a line that returns the gas to the top of the recycler assembly. A high-purity helium gas cylinder connected to the recycler assembly supplies the gas, which, after it is liquefied, increases the level of LHe in the MEG system during the start-up phase. No storage tank for evaporated helium gas nor a helium gas purifier is used. The recycler is capable of liquefying helium with a rate of ∼17 L/d after precooling the MEG system. It has provided a fully maintenance-free operation under computer control for 7 months without refill of helium. Although the recycler is used for single-orientation operation at this initial testing site, it is designed to operate at ±20° orientations, allowing the MEG system to be tilted for supine and reclining positions. Vibration of the recycler is dampened to an ultra-low level by using several vibration isolation methods, which enables uninterrupted operation during MEG measurements. Recyclers similar to this system may be quite useful even for MEG systems with 100% magnetometers.     

Low-frequency magnetic interference in a SQUID gradiometer caused by a Cryotiger gas-mixture cooler

A Cryotiger^® gas-mixture cooler was applied for cooling of three high-T_c SQUID magnetometers. These SQUID magnetometers were mounted on an alumina holder in an axial gradiometer configuration. From 20 Hz upward, the system noise was about 0.1 pT/√Hz. Below this frequency, the noise gradually increased to a level of 10 pT/√Hz at 1 Hz. This low-frequency excess noise appeared to be due to remnant magnetization of the Cryotiger cold head. Movement of magnetic cold-head parts with respect to the SQUIDs are induced by pressure fluctuations in the heat exchanger lines. By using one SQUID as a reference for the cooler noise, a first-order gradiometer can be formed in which the cooler noise is eliminated. To establish a proper second-order gradiometer either a fourth SQUID has to be added, or the spatial separation between cold head and SQUIDs has to be increased significantly.     

高温超导量子干涉磁强计的发展现状及其应用

本文介绍了高温超导量子干涉磁强计的发展现状及其在生物磁测量、地磁测量、无损探伤及扫描SQUID显微镜等方面的应用。     

SQUIDs on the Base of Strained YBCO Films

Strained films of YBCO in which stresses caused by mismatching of film and substrate lattices and thermal expansion coefficients are frozen by quenching are grown on substrates LAO (1 0 0) by laser ablation method. Critical current in these films is suppressed about 2–3 orders of magnitude. The strained films have unusual temperature dependences with the minimum at the temperature range of 55–57~K. In spite of granular films with the same critical current the strained films are stable to thermocycles. DC-SQUIDs are manufactured on the base of the strained films with the sensitivity by flux up to 4.5 mk ₀/ Hz.     

Construction and test of a cryocooler-cooled low-Tc SQUID gradiometer system

A cryocooler-cooled low-Tc SQUID gradiometer system was designed and constructed. It is based on a 4 K GM-cooler that is positioned several meters from the measuring head containing the SQUID sensors. The cooling power is transported by means of a circulating helium flow. Thus, there are three main components: the cooler vessel, the measuring head and the connecting flow-line.In stable operation, the SQUID and gradiometric pick-up loop are about 4.3 K. The overall heat loads to the cooler 1st and 2nd stages are estimated at 17 W and 0.3 W, respectively. The overall system noise was about 10 fT/√Hz although a number of peaks were observed in the spectrum. As an example, an adult heart beat was recorded.     

SQUID生物磁图仪

简述了生物磁测量原理、测量难点以及国内外水平．着重提出了开展这一研究的相关的关键技术，并提出了今后开展这一研究工作的建议。     

Development of a Thin Film Magnetic Moment Reference Material

In this paper we present the development of a magnetic moment reference material for low moment magnetic samples. We first conducted an inter-laboratory comparison to determine the most useful sample dimensions and magnetic properties for common instruments such as vibrating sample magnetometers (VSM), SQUIDs, and alternating gradient field magnetometers. The samples were fabricated and then measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer. Their magnetic moments were calibrated by tracing back to the NIST YIG sphere, SRM 2853.