• Progress in Superconductivity
• /
• 제8권2호
• /
• pp.158-163
• /
• 2007

YBCO do superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometers based on bicrystal junctions have been fabricated for magnetocardiograph (MCG) measurements. We could fabricate YBCO SQUID magnetometers having magnetic field noise of about $20fT/Hz^{1/2}$ at white noise region. We have developed an MCG system employing the high performance SQUID magnetometers. The lightweight MCG system, requiring liquid nitrogen as a coolant, consists of 6-channel SQUID sensors, an adjustable patient bed with sliding motion, and data analyses software. The MCG system could record quite clear MCG signals in a room with moderate magnetic shielding. In normal operation with multi-position MCG measurements, we could obtain clear 48-point mappings of magnetic field map and current source map with high enough signal qualities far clinical trials.

• Progress in Superconductivity
• /
• 제6권1호
• /
• pp.19-23
• /
• 2004

YBCO do superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometers based on bicrystal Josephson junctions on 10 mm ${\times}$ 10 mm $SrTiO_3$ substrates have been fabricated. The pickup coil of the device was designed to have 16 parallel loops with 50-fm-wide lines. We could obtain optimised direct coupled YBCO SQUID magnetometer design with field sensitivity $B_{N}$ $\Phi$/ of $4.5 nT/\Phi_{0}$ and magnetic field noise $B_{N}$ of about $22 fT/Hz^{1}$2/ with an I/f corner frequency of 2 Hz measured inside a magnetically shielded room. Preliminary results of magnetocardiograph measurement using the HTS SQUID magnetometers show signal to noise ratio of about 110, which is comparable to the quality of a commercial MCG system based on Nb-SQUIDs.

• Progress in Superconductivity
• /
• 제2권1호
• /
• pp.20-26
• /
• 2000

A 40-channel superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) system was constructed for measuring neuromagnetic fields. Main features of the system are the use of double relaxation oscillation SQUIDs (DROSs), and planar gradiometers measuring magnetic field components tangential to the head surface. The DROSs with high flux-to-voltage transfers enabled direct readout of the SQUID output by room-temperature dc preamplifiers and simple flux-locked loop circuits could be used for SQUID operation. The pickup coil is an integrated first-order planar gradiometer with a baseline of 40 mm. Average noise level of the 40 channels is around 1.2 $fT/cm/{\surd}Hz$ at 100 Hz, corresponding to a field noise of 5 $fT/{\surd}Hz$, operated inside a magnetically shielded room. The SQUID insert was designed to have low thermal load, minimizing the loss of liquid helium. The constructed system was applied to measure auditory-evoked neuromagnetic fields.

• Progress in Superconductivity
• /
• 제7권1호
• /
• pp.6-10
• /
• 2005

We have studied feasibility of single-layer second-order $high-T_c$ SQUID gradiometers in magnetocardiography. We have measured human cardiomagnetic signals using a short-baseline (5.8 mm) single-layer second-order YBCO gradiometer in partially shielded environments. The gradiometer has an overall size of $17.6\;mm{\times}6\;mm$ and contains three parallel-connected pickup coils which are directly coupled to a step-edge junction SQUID. The gradiometer showed an unshielded gradient noise of $0.84\;pT/cm^2/Hz^{1/2}$ at 1 Hz, which corresponds to an equivalent field noise of $280\;fT/Hz^{1/2}$. The balancing factor was $10^3$. Based on the same design rules as the short-baseline devices, we have studied fabrication of 30 mm-long baseline gradiometers. The devices had an overall size of $70.2\;mm{\times}10.6\;mm$ with each pickup coil of $10\;mm{\times}10\;mm$ in outer size. As Josephson elements we made two types of submicron bridges, which are variable thickness bridge (VTB) and constant thickness bridge (CTB), from $3\;{\mu}m-wide$ and 300 nm-thick YBCO lines with a thin layer of Au on top by using a focused ion beam (FIB) patterning method. VTB was 300 nm wide, 200 nm thick, 30 nm long with Au removed and CTB 100 nm wide and 30 nm long. In temperature-dependent critical currents, $I_c(T)$, VTB showed an nonmetallic barrier-type behavior and CTB an SNS behavior. We believe that those characteristics are ascribed to naturally formed grain boundaries crossing the bridges.

• Progress in Superconductivity
• /
• 제14권2호
• /
• pp.82-86
• /
• 2012

A sensitive eight-channel high-Tc Superconducting Interference Device (SQUID) detection system for magnetic contaminant in a lithium ion battery anode was developed. Finding ultra-small metallic foreign matter is an important issue for a manufacturer because metallic contaminants carry the risk of an internal short. When contamination occurs, the manufacturer of the product suffers a great loss from recalling the tainted product. Metallic particles with outer dimensions smaller than 100 microns cannot be detected using a conventional X-ray imaging system. Therefore, a highly sensitive detection system for small foreign matter is required. We have already developed a detection system based on a single-channel SQUID gradiometer and horizontal magnetization. For practical use, the detection width of the system should be increased to at least 65 mm by employing multiple sensors. In this paper, we present an 8-ch high-Tc SQUID roll-to-roll system for inspecting a lithium-ion battery anode with a width of 65 mm. A special microscopic type of a cryostat was developed upon which eight SQUID gradiometers were mounted. As a result, small iron particles of 35 microns on a real lithium-ion battery anode with a width of 70 mm were successfully detected. This system is practical for the detection of contaminants in a lithium ion battery anode sheet.

• Progress in Superconductivity
• /
• 제11권2호
• /
• pp.147-151
• /
• 2010

We have developed a high-$T_c$ SQUID magnetocardiogram (MCG) system for small laboratory animals. White noise of the measurement system was about 30 fT/$Hz^{1/2}$ when measured in a magnetically shielded room. We optimized the measurement position to obtain clear MCG wave from rat's small heart by using grid measurements. With the optimization, the MCG signal was successfully detected with the peak amplitude of about 30 pT. We could observe well defined P-, QRS-, and T-waves from the rat MCG. The results suggest that the developed system has a strong potential to monitor the progress of the heart disease model by using a laboratory rat.

• 한국초전도학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국초전도학회 2001년도 High Temperature Superconductivity Vol.XI
• /
• pp.37-37
• /
• 2001

• 한국초전도학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국초전도학회 2003년도 High Temperature Superconductivity Vol.XIII
• /
• pp.54-54
• /
• 2003

• 한국정보통신학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국해양정보통신학회 2003년도 춘계종합학술대회
• /
• pp.758-761
• /
• 2003

The goal of the research is to study and describe a new stressed state of High Temperature Superconducting (High-T$_{c}$) YBCO Films, to create of SQUIDs (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) on the bases of these films with maximal sensitivity. With the experimental investigation of the stressed films grown by laser ablation method and its properties, the fabrication of the dc-SQUIDs with maximal sensitivity on the bases of the stressed YBCO films were carried out. The stressed film having the value of the critical current density J$_{c}$=3ㆍ$10^{5}$A/$\textrm{cm}^2$ was the more stable than others.ers.s.

• Progress in Superconductivity
• /
• 제1권2호
• /
• pp.105-109
• /
• 2000

We have designed and fabricated a single-flux-quantum(SFQ) four-stage shift register using YBCO bicrystal Josephson junctions, and tested its operations using a digital measurement set-up. The circuit consists of 4 shift register stages and a read SQUID placed next to each side of the shift register. Each SQUID was inductively coupled to the nearby shift register stage. The major obstacle in testing the circuits was the interference between the two read SQUIDs, and we could get over the problem by determining the correct operation points of the SQUID from the simultaneously measured modulation curves. Loaded data ('1' or '0') were successfully shifted from a stage to the next by a controlled current pulse injected to the bias lines located between the stages, and the corresponding correct data shifts were observed with the two read SQUIDs.