Detection of Far-Field Radio-Frequency Signals by Niobium Superconducting Quantum Interference Device Arrays

Author

de Andrade, Marcio C. ; de Escobar, Anna Leese ; Taylor, Benjamin J. ; Berggren, Susan ; Higa, Brian ; Dinh, Son ; Fagaly, Robert L. ; Talvacchio, John ; Nechay, Bettina ; Przybysz, John

Volume

25

Issue

5

fYear

2015

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

5

Abstract

The capability of an all-niobium superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) array to operate as an electrically small antenna capable of detecting radio frequency from distant sources was demonstrated. The measurements were performed in three different arrays, with each array consisting of 2400 identical cells. The intrinsic broadband characteristics of the device were confirmed by the flat frequency response of the ratio of the output and input voltages (the S21 parameter) of the array between 300 kHz and 1 GHz. Setting the device to its optimal operating parameters allowed the detection of signals from local frequency-modulation stations.

Keywords

Antenna arrays; Broadband antennas; Josephson junctions; Niobium; Radio frequency; SQUIDs; Superconducting microwave devices; Arrays; SQIFs; SQUID; Superconductivity; superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID); superconducting quantum interference filters (SQIFs); superconductivity;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TASC.2015.2470677

Filename

7230272