Effects of flux pinning on the DC characteristics of meander-shaped superconducting quantum interference filters with flux concentrator

Abstract

Superconducting quantum interference filters, or SQIFs, are a promising class of highly sensitive magnetometers benefiting from a highly peaked and symmetric magnetic response at zero-input flux. They can be used in magnetometry, e.g., in wideband applications. A simple solution to increase further their sensitivity is to add a superconducting flux concentrator (SFC) to their design. Using the ion irradiation process, we designed a meander-shaped SQIF enhanced with an SFC. The SFC improved the SQIF transfer factor by a factor of 8.4. However, high temperature superconducting (HTSc) devices are vulnerable to flux pinning, which can severely hinder their response. On the one hand, HTSc technologies alleviate the burden of cryogenics. On the other hand, applications that use SFCs in noisy and unshielded environments will become possible only if a better understanding of how this flux impacts the device’s properties is achieved. We studied the relationship between the field present during the cooling process of the SQIF antenna (thereafter called “cooling field”) and the evolution of its DC response. We developed a simple and phenomenological model and were able to reproduce the degradation of the SQIF response. This work demonstrates the usability of SFC-enhanced SQIFs based on ion irradiated junctions in rather harsh conditions, in particular, an unshielded environment, and also gives an insight into the implications that such conditions cause on the application of SFCs in general.