Upgrade of Superconducting Rock Magnetometer

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0004064SenThis grant provides partial support for the costs of upgrading the superconducting rock magnetometer (SRM) at Florida International University with direct current (DC) superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), replacing the cold head and cryocooler compressor, and modifying the helium dewar. The PI has documented that the current SRM at FIU (11 years old) is fraught with problems including, rapid He boil off, frequent ice blocks in the He plumbing lines and a non-functional y-axis radio frequency (Rf) SQUID leaving only two components of the magnetic field measurable with the aging machine. DC SQUIDs offer over an order of magnitude increase in measurement sensitivity over Rf SQUIDs and are now the de facto standard sensors used in state-of-the-art SRMs by leading paleomagnetists. The addition of a new He dewar and cryocooler compressor will also, increase available analysis time on this instrument between fills, decrease the operational costs of the instrument, and increase the useful life of the instrument by reducing the number of thermal cycles required per operating hour. The upgraded magnetometer will allow for continued studies of paleomagnetic field behavior near polarity transitions and will be used to train a racially diverse crop of undergraduate and M.S. students in paleomagnetic research methods.***