ABSTRACT
In Chapter 2 we made use of a hypothetical arrangement of a strongly coupled superconducting ring, interrupted by a region of weak superconductivity, to derive the essential features of the Josephson effects. In practice this same arrangement is actually employed as the basis of one of the most useful superconducting devices developed so far, the single-junction, or rf, squid. (As mentioned in the Introduction, squid is an acronym for Superconducting QUantum Interference Device.) Here the essential physics behind the operation of these important devices will be described, and in the following section the practical realisation of an rf squid with its associated readout electronics will be explained. Chapter 4 will treat in a similar way dc squids, which are related devices possessing two weak links in a single ring, whose mode of operation is rather different.
