David Louis Tilbrook

Development of a niobium nanosuperconducting quantum interference device for the detection of small spin populations

Electron-beam lithography and reactive ion etching have been used to fabricate thin-film Au/Nb bridges with widths ∼50 nm. The Au layer was used as both a mask for etching the Nb superconducting bridge and as a resistive shunt in the completed devices. Using these junctions, a dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) design with a hole size of 200 nm×200 nm (nano-SQUID) has also been fabricated and characterized. A flux noise of approximately 7×10−6 Φ0/Hz1/2 at 4.2 K has been achieved, from which a calculated spin sensitivity of 250 spin/Hz1/2 is predicted.

Fabrication and characterisation of YBCO single grain boundary step edge junctions

We use ion beam etching techniques to fabricate YBCO step edge junctions (SEJ) on MgO substrates. Argon ion-beam etching (IBE) of the substrate at angles other than at normal incidence is used to define the step height and angle. Thin (/spl sim/300 nm) magnetron sputtered YBCO films are deposited over the step and patterned using microlithography and cold substrate ion-beam etching techniques. The critical current, I/sub c/ of these SEJs can be controlled by varying the angle of the step etched into the substrate. Fabrication techniques are described which produce one grain boundary at the top of the step and include a smooth return path thereby avoiding a second grain boundary at the bottom of the step. At 77 K, the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics show resistively shunted junction behaviour. These junctions routinely demonstrate reasonably large I/sub C/R/sub N/ products (0.1-0.6 mV), making them suitable for applications in high temperature SQUID devices.

NanoSQUID sensitivity for isolated dipoles and small spin populations

The sensitivity of nanoscale SQUIDs (nanoSQUIDs; SQUID: superconducting quantum interference device) to single and small populations of magnetic dipoles is considered. The simple estimate given previously for the atomic spin sensitivity of a nanoSQUID coupled to an isolated magnetic dipole at its centre is confirmed. It is demonstrated that the sensitivity is constrained in most practical situations by the finite size of the SQUID loop and nanobridges. An exact analytic result is obtained for a nanoSQUID composed of an idealized filamentary circular loop. The issue of optimum placement and orientation of the dipole with respect to the nanoSQUID hole is also considered, and it is shown that the optimum position for the dipole depends upon the height of the dipole above the plane of the nanoSQUID. It is pointed out that the conclusion quoted by previous authors, that the optimum position is above one of the Josephson junctions or Dayem bridges, although true in the limit of very narrow bridges with tight magnetic coupling, is not true in general, and estimates of the potential sensitivity when the dipole is placed in this region based on simple filamentary models are likely to overestimate the sensitivity achievable in practice.

A SQUID-based metal detector?comparison to coil and x-ray systems

The presence of foreign metal bodies and fragments in foodstuff and pharmaceutical products is of major concern to producers. Further, hidden metal objects can pose threats to security. In particular, stainless steel is difficult to detect by conventional coil metal detectors due to its low conductivity. We have employed an HTS SQUID magnetometer for the detection of stainless steel particles which is based on the measurement of the remanent magnetization of the particle. Our aim was to determine the detection limits of HTS SQUID-based remote magnetometry, especially for food inspection purposes, and to make a comparison of this technique to commonly used eddy current coil and x-ray inspection systems. We show that the SQUID systems sensitivity to stainless steel fragments is significantly higher than that of coil systems if the samples are magnetized in a 100 mT magnetic field prior to detection. Further, it has a higher sensitivity than x-ray systems, depending on the density distribution of the product under inspection. A 0.6 mg piece of grade-316 stainless steel (a fragment of a hypodermic needle 0.5 mm long and 0.65 mm diameter) represents the detection limit of our system with a 150 × 150 mm2 inspection orifice.

Metallization and interconnection of HTS YBCO thin film devices and circuits

A comprehensive study of specific contact resistivity and ultrasonic wire bonding yield and strength was carried out on noble metal-YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) thin film contacts prepared by a variety of methods and with different YBCO surface conditions. The metallization techniques investigated include in situ and ex situ deposition of gold or silver on YBCO films. The ex situ contacts were made with and without lithographic processes. Contact resistivities of less than 5×10-8 Ω cm2 at 77 K were achieved for contacts made by the rapid ex situ deposition of gold or silver on fresh YBCO films with smooth surfaces. These contacts also gave a high wire bonding yield and strength of 10-19 g. High contact resistivities in excess of 5×10-4 Ω cm2 and poor wire bonding yield and strength were observed for the contacts made by standard lithographic lift-off processes on old YBCO films. Surface treatments using either argon ion beam etching or rf O2 plasma cleaning prior to metallization were found to be useful in reducing the contact resistivity and improving the wire bonding results for the lift-off contacts. The influence of YBCO film morphology on the contact resistance and wire bonding yield and strength was also studied.

Geophysical exploration using magnetic gradiometry based on HTS SQUIDs

Magnetic tensor gradiometry provides gradient components of true potential fields which enables unique depth estimates and improves analytic signal methods as well as providing a number of other advantages. A high temperature SQUID (HTS) gradiometer can provide measurements of the components of the earths field tensor creating a new tool for mineral exploration. A successful comparison between a HTS SQUID gradiometer and a Cs-vapour gradiometer under survey conditions has been conducted. Both instruments were configured vertically. The HTS gradiometer measured the B/sub zz/ component of the gradient tensor, while the Cs-vapor gradiometer measured the vertical gradient of the total magnetic intensity. The HTS gradient measurement was the difference in output between two coaxial SQUID sensors. Effective noise levels achieved were 0.16-0.3 nT/m RMS, compared with 0.1-0.5 nT/m RMS for the Cs-vapor system. The SQUID noise was dominated by vibration with additional contributions from the multiplexed sampling between the SQUIDs. This paper reports on the system development, design issues, trial results and the implications for geophysical exploration.

Axial high-temperature superconducting gradiometer with a flexibleflux transformer

An axial first-order gradiometer is formed by coupling the input coil of a flexible high-temperature superconducting flux transformer inductively to a directly coupled superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer. The transformer is patterned in a single-layer YBa2Cu3O7−x film on a flexible Hastelloy tape. The tape is bent such that the two outer pickup loops of the transformer are facing each other while perpendicular to the magnetometer plane resulting in a gradiometer baseline of 35mm. A superconducting shield is mechanically adjusted to reduce the gradiometer response to uniform fields applied perpendicularly to both the magnetometer plane and the plane of the transformer pickup loops, by a factor of typically 7000.

Trimming of step-edge junctions for improvement of SQUID performance

We have applied an Ar ion beam etching technique to trim the critical current, Ic, and the normal resistance, Rn, of step-edge Josephson junctions which provides a means to optimize SQUID performance. By using this technique, Ic can be reduced by more than one order of magnitude and Rn can be increased to over 10 Ω. Significant improvements in SQUID performance have been demonstrated with this technique. White noise of 80 f T Hz−1/2 was achieved from a trimmed 5 mm dc SQUID that had poor initial performance. This paper was presented at the 8th International Superconductive Electronics Conference, Osaka, Japan, 19–22 June 2001.

Highly balanced long-baseline axial gradiometer based on high-T/sub c/ superconducting tape

The improving quality of high-T/sub c/ superconducting (HTS) tape with critical current densities larger than 1 MA/cm/sup 2/ creates the possibility to construct high quality flexible superconducting electronics operating at liquid nitrogen temperatures. We patterned a symmetric flux transformer into a 700 nm thick YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-x/ film on a 70 /spl mu/m thick, 85 mm long Hastelloy tape. The center loop of the transformer was coupled to the pickup loop of a SQUID magnetometer in a flip-chip configuration. The two outer pickup loops of the transformer were bent such that they were facing each other perpendicular to the magnetometer plane. The resulting axial gradiometer has a long baseline of 35 mm and a gradient sensitivity of 7.3 nT/(cm/spl Phi//sub 0/). A superconducting shield was used to reduce uniform magnetic fields applied perpendicular to the magnetometer plane. Common-mode rejection ratios less than 10/sup -4/ were achieved in the best case. The noise-limited gradient field resolution was approximately 330 fT/(cm/spl radic/Hz) at a frequency of 10 Hz. This resolution was mainly limited by the flux noise level of our dc-SQUID magnetometer of approximately 45 /spl mu//spl Phi//sub 0///spl radic/Hz. In an unshielded laboratory environment, external noise contributions at 50 Hz were reduced by a factor of approximately 10/sup 3/.

Issues relating to airborne applications of HTS SQUIDs

Airborne application of HTS SQUIDs is the most difficult environment for their successful deployment. In order to operate with the sensitivity required for a particular application, there are many issues to be addressed such as the need for very wide dynamic range electronics, motion noise elimination, immunity to large changing magnetic fields and cultural noise sources. This paper reviews what is necessary to achieve an airborne system giving examples in geophysical mineral exploration. It will consider issues relating to device design and fabrication, electronics, dewar design, suspension system requirements and noise elimination methods.