Published in MPW, 14 Dec 2015
Physicists in the UK claim to have created a “high-temperature” superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) that outperforms common SQUIDs operated at liquid-helium temperatures. The device, which is actually an array of hundreds of individual SQUIDs, could be of benefit to those using magnetoencephalography to study the human brain (Appl. Phys. Lett. 107 162602).
A SQUID is a superconducting ring that can measure incredibly small magnetic fields. The best performing ones – that is, the ones exhibiting the best signal-to-noise ratio – have traditionally been those cooled to temperatures of liquid helium, 4.2 K. Handling liquid helium isn’t easy, however, and helium itself is becoming increasingly scarce, and increasingly pricey. […]
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