Beam current sensor

Patent · Fri Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:5756047

Kuchnir, M; Mills, F E

A current sensor for measuring the dc component of a beam of charged particles employs a superconducting pick-up loop probe, with twisted superconducting leads in combination with a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) detector. The pick-up probe is in the form of a single-turn loop, or a cylindrical toroid, through which the beam is directed and within which a first magnetic flux is excluded by the Meisner effect. The SQUID detector acts as a flux-to-voltage converter in providing a current to the pick-up loop so as to establish a second magnetic flux within the electrode which nulls out the first magnetic flux. A feedback voltage within the SQUID detector represents the beam current of the particles which transit the pick-up loop. Meisner effect currents prevent changes in the magnetic field within the toroidal pick-up loop and produce a current signal independent of the beam's cross-section and its position within the toroid, while the combination of superconducting elements provides current measurement sensitivities in the nano-ampere range.

• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH03000
• Assignee: Dept. of Energy
• Application Number: ON: DE85011600
• OSTI ID: 5756047
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
AMMETERS
SQUID DEVICES
SUPERCONDUCTING COILS
BEAM CURRENTS
CURRENTS
ELECTRIC MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
FLUXMETERS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT
SUPERCONDUCTING DEVICES
420201* - Engineering- Cryogenic Equipment & Devices
440300 - Miscellaneous Instruments- (-1989)