Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation From Digital Wireless Telephone Frequencies on a Double Relaxation Oscillation SQUID

In this paper, the effects of electromagnetic fields from the frequency band of digital wireless telephones on a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) were experimentally investigated. A first-order planar gradiometer based on the double relaxation oscillation SQUID (DROS) was operated without low-frequency magnetic shielding, and was exposed to radiated electromagnetic fields in the frequency range of 300 MHz-2 GHz. The experiments have been performed in a fully anechoic chamber to minimize reflected waves in the chamber. The flux-to-voltage transfer and the field sensitivity of the gradiometer have been observed under the irradiation of fields. Results show that the performance of the gradiometer was significantly affected at a typical power level of the digital wireless telephones for both horizontally and vertically polarized electromagnetic waves. The noise level of the DROS output voltage also increases as the strength of the external fields becomes higher.