SBIR Phase II: Development of Low-Cost Single-Stage Superconducting Quantum Interface Device (SQUID) Array Amplifiers for High-Resolution Particle and X-Ray Detectors

该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目致力于为低温粒子探测器开发基于超导量子接口器件(SQUID)的宽带放大器。美国国家标准与技术研究所(NIST)首先提出了一种实现两级SQUID放大器读出方案的方法。利用这种方法，该公司已经优化了第一代SQUID放大系统并成功地将其商业化，以及相关的室温电子设备。该系统的灵敏度为2pA/根赫兹，带宽为2 MHz，工作温度为0.7K-4.2K。然而，相对较小的带宽和工作温度的下限限制了它在所有低温探测器中的一小部分的适用性。在第一阶段项目中，确定了一个创新的设计方案的可行性，该方案集成了100-200个SQUID，能够提供50 MHz的带宽，同时保持低噪声性能。因此，建议演示并为第三阶段的商业化工作准备一个基于这种SQUID结构的放大器系统，该系统具有1 pA/根赫兹灵敏度和50 MHz带宽。作为开发工作的一部分，制造材料将被改变，以允许工作在远低于0.7K到几MK的范围内。该系统极大地扩展了放大器的适用范围，几乎适用于所有低温X射线和粒子探测器读数。这种低成本的SQUID放大器的出现将导致它们几乎用于所有高能物理研究实验、高分辨率x射线光谱分析、成像探测器、粒子识别系统、用于绘制大脑功能图的生物计量学，以及飞机腐蚀和裂缝的检测。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project addresses the development of a wide-bandwidth Superconducting Quantum Interface Device (SQUID)-based amplifier for cryogenic particle detectors. An approach for implementing a two-stage SQUID amplifier readout scheme was first introduced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Utilizing this approach, the firm has already optimized and successfully commercialized a first-generation SQUID amplifier system with associated room temperature electronics. This system exhibits a sensitivity of 2 pA/root Hz, a bandwidth of 2 MHz, and an operating temperature of 0.7K - 4.2K. However, the relatively small bandwidth and the lower bound of its operating temperature have limited its applicability to a small fraction of all cryogenic detectors. During the Phase I project, the feasibility of an innovative design scheme integrating 100-200 SQUID capable of 50 MHz bandwidth while retaining low noise performance was established. It is, therefore, proposed to demonstrate and prepare for Phase III commercialization effort an amplifier system based on this SQUID architecture which possesses 1 pA/root Hz sensitivity and 50 MHz bandwidth. As part of the development effort, the fabrication materials will be altered to allow operation well below 0.7 K down to a few mK. This system significantly expands the applicability of the amplifier to virtually all cryogenic x-ray and particle detector readouts. The availability of such a low-cost SQUID amplifier would result in their use for nearly all high energy physics research experiments, high-resolution x-ray spectroscopy, imaging detectors, particle identification systems, biomagnetometry for the mapping of brain functions, and detection of corrosion and cracks-in aircraft.