Ultra-sensitive sensors for weak electromagnetic fields using high-{Tc} SQUIDS for biomagnetism, NDE, and corrosion currents
This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The research has directly contributed to a new DOE supported project, three patents (one granted and two submitted), and several potential opportunities for new program funding at the Laboratory. The authors report significant developments extending from basic understanding of and fabrication techniques for high critical-temperature (high-{Tc}) SQUID devices to the development of high-level applications such as the SQUID Microscope. The development of ramp edge geometry and silver-doped YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-x} (YBCO) electrodes has tremendously improved the performance of high-{Tc} SQUIDS. Recent experiments have proven and quantified the LANL-patented superconducting imaging plane gradiometry concept. A SQUID microscope, developed largely under this project, has recently acquired data that demonstrated exceptional sensitivity a nd resolution. New techniques for background noise suppression, needed to use the extraordinarily sensitive SQUID sensors in unshielded environments, have also been developed. Finally, initial investigations to use SQUIDs in a basic physics experiment to measure the electric dipole moment of the neutron were very successful.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Management and Administration, Washington, DC (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 677153
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-98-2181; ON: DE99000808; TRN: US0301469
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Supercedes report DE99000808; PBD: [1998]; PBD: 1 Nov 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Experimental validation of superconducting quantum interference device sensors for electromagnetic scattering in geologic structures
A simplified HTc rf SQUID to analyze the human cardiac magnetic field