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Microstructural origin of 1/f noise in high T{sub c} bicrystal SQUID magnetometers

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.120487· OSTI ID:554320
;  [1]; ; ;  [2]
  1. Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
  2. Conductus, Inc., Sunnyvale, California 94086 (United States)
The origin of noise in YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}x} (YBCO) bicrystal SQUID magnetometers on SrTiO{sub 3} substrates is investigated by comparing the microstructure of actual low-noise and high-noise devices. The most obvious difference in the microstructure is the presence of a-axis oriented particles in the high-noise devices, whereas the low-noise devices consist exclusively of c-axis oriented YBCO films. The growth of the a-axis particles in the YBCO films induces many defects, including amorphous regions, distortion in c-axis lattice planes and extra a-c interfaces. The quality of the junction boundary is also degraded by the a-axis particles. The existence of these defects are expected to affect the superconducting current and the motion of the magnetic flux in the films and hence generate extra noise in the devices. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
OSTI ID:
554320
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 25 Vol. 71; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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