Superconducting quantum interference device fluxmeter and nondestructive inspection apparatus

Abstract: An inspection apparatus having a compact configuration is provided in a SQUID flux meter used for nondestructive inspection to make inspection for defects, corrosion, etc. of metal in a nondestructive and non-contact mode. A SQUID 1, comprising two Josephson junctions 3, a washer coil 4, shunt resistors 5, a damping resistor 6, and a feedback modulation coil 8, is formed of a superconducting thin film on a substrate 14. A magnetic field applying coil 9 is formed on the same substrate 14 with a superconducting thin film or a normal conducting metal thin film. The magnetic field applying coil 9, which is wound plural turns around the SQUID 1, applies a dc or ac magnetic field for inspection to a sample. The change in magnetic field produced by a defect in the sample is detected directly by the washer coil 4, by which the position and size of the defect are inspected. Since the magnetic field applying coil is integrated on the same substrate as that on which the SQUID is formed, an increase in the scale of the apparatus can be restrained, providing a simple construction.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a superconducting quantum interference device (hereinafter referred to as SQUID) fluxmeter used for nondestructive inspection to make inspection for defects, corrosion, etc. of metal in a nondestructive and non-contact mode, and a nondestructive inspection apparatus employing the SQUID fluxmeter. In particular the present invention relates to a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) flux meter according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a SQUID flux meter is for example known from US Patent 4,588,947. Therein the turns of a magnetic field applying coil are wound around the turns of a washer coil connected to two Josephson junctions to form a superconducting loop. However, the turns of the magnetic field applying coil are not wound around the Josephson junctions as such. From IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 2 (1993), 1795 - 1799 there are also known arrangements of SQUID flux meters wherein the turns of a magnetic field applying coil are wound around the turns of washer coils of a SQUID flux meter without being wound around two Josephson junctions within the SQUID. FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a nondestructive inspection apparatus employing a conventional SQUID fluxmeter. A SQUID 1, a pickup coil 2 superconductively connected to the SQUID 1, and a magnetic f ield applying coil 9 are held in a cooling vessel 12, and a drive circuit 13 for the SQUID 1 is disposed above the cooling vessel 12. The pickup coil 2 and the magnetic field applying coil 9 are arranged so as to face a sample 10. The sample 10 is placed on a sample scanning device 11. The sample 10 to be inspected is scanned by the sample scanning device 11, and a dc or ac magnetic field for inspection is applied by the magnetic field applying coil 9 according to the material of the sample 10. A magnetic signal generated from the sample 10 by the magnetic field for inspection is detected by the pickup coil 2. A detected magnetic flux detected by the pickup coil 2 is transmitted to the SQUID 1. The SQUID 1 is operated as a fluxmeter by the drive circuit 13. For the sample 10 made of a magnetic material, the defective and non-defective portions have a different magnetic permeability. When a dc magnetic field is applied to the sample 10 by the magnetic field applying coil 9, the applied magnetic field is distorted at the defective place. The distortion of the magnetic field is detected by the SQUID 1 through the pickup coil 2, by which the position and size of the defect can be inspected. For the sample 10 made of a non-magnetic conductive material, an ac magnetic field is applied to the sample 10 by the magnetic field applying coil 9. An eddy current is produced in the sample by the applied ac magnetic field, and the eddy current is made turbulent at the defective portion in the sample. The turbulence of the eddy current is detected by the pickup coil 2 and the SQUID 1, by which the position of the defect is detected. In a conventional inspection apparatus employing a SQUID fluxmeter, a large magnetic field applying coil is provided apart from a SQUID. With this configuration, a large space is required for installing the magnetic field applying coil, so that the scale of the apparatus increases. Therefore, when the sample to be inspected is small, or when the resolution at a planar position is required to be high, it is difficult to provide means. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a superconducting quantum interference device fluxmeter and a nondestructive inspection apparatus, which have a compact system configuration. This object is achieved by a superconducting quantum interference device fluxmeter according to claim 1 and a nondestructive inspection apparatus according to claim 5. For the SQUID fluxmeter thus configured, the magnetic field applying coil need not be constructed outside, so that an increase in the scale of the apparatus can be restrained, providing a simple construction. Therefore, the SQUID fluxmeter can be applied even when the sample to be inspected is small, or when a high planar resolution is required. When a nondestructive inspection is performed by using the SQUID fluxmeter, magnetic field can easily be applied to the sample to be inspected. Also, before the nondestructive inspection, it is neccessary to know a sensitivity of the SQUID fluxmeter. The magnetic field applying coil can be also used for the sensitivity calibration of the SQUID. The sensitivity calibration of the SQUID can be performed by generating a magnetic field of a predetermined power with the magnetic field applying coil without a sample and by measuring an output signal of the SQUID fluxmeter. The magnetic field applying coil can be used as a heat-flash heater by making it of a normal conducting metal thin film. When a superconducting material is cooled at cryogenic temperature under a magnetic field, the magnetic field is took in the superconducting material, that is a phenomenon called magnetic flux trap. The magnetic flux trap deteriorates characteristics of the SQUID. In order to remove the trapped flux from the superconducting material, the superconducting characteristic of the material is changed into normalconducting characteristic by heating and after that, the characteristic of the material is changed into superconducting characteristic again, that is a phenomenon called heat-flash. The magnetic field applying coil made with a thin film of normalconducting material can be used as a heat-flash heater to generate heat. Therefore, the magnetic flux trapped by the SQUID is easily released. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a SQUID fluxmeter, showing a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a view showing a SQUID in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention, which is expressed by an equivalent circuit; FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a SQUID fluxmeter, showing a second embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a nondestructive inspection apparatus employing a conventional SQUID flux meter. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the present invention, a superconducting quantum interference device fluxmeter comprises a superconducting quantum interference device having a pair of Josephson junctions formed on a superconducting thin film on a substrate, a washer coil connected to the Josephson junctions to form a superconducting loop, and a feedback modulation coil magnetically coupled with the washer coil; a drive circuit for operating the superconducting quantum interference device as a fluxmeter; and a magnetic field applying coil formed on the same substrate to apply a predetermined magnetic field to a sample to be inspected. The magnetic field applying coil may be formed of a superconducting thin film or may be formed of a normal conducting metal thin film on the aforementioned same substrate. Further, a pickup coil for detecting magnetic field and an input coil magnetically coupled with the washer coil may be integrated on the same substrate as that on which the superconducting quantum interference device and the magnetic field applying coil are formed. There can also be provided a nondestructive inspection apparatus comprising the aforesaid superconducting quantum interference device fluxmeter, sample scanning means for scanning the sample to be inspected, and means for judging the position of a defect in the sample to be inspected based on the detection result for the magnetic field applied to the sample to be inspected. Since the SQUID fluxmeter thus configured has the magnetic field applying coil integrated on the same substrate as the SQUID substrate, when the nondestructive inspection apparatus employing the SQUID fluxmeter is configured, an increase in the scale of the apparatus can be restrained, providing a simple construction. Thereupon, the SQUID fluxmeter can be applied even when the sample to be inspected is small, or when a hight planar resolution is required. Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a SQUID fluxmeter, showing a first embodiment of the present invention. On a substrate 14, two Josephson junctions 3, a washer coil 4 forming a superconducting loop with the Josephson junctions 3, shunt resistors 5 connected in parallel with the Josephson junctions 3 to eliminate hysteresis in the current-voltage characteristics, and a damping resistor 6 connected in parallel to inhibit an unnecessary resonance at the washer coil 4 are integrated. Further, a feedback modulation coil 8 is magnetically coupled with the washer coil 4 to perform driving using a FLL (Flux Locked Loop) circuit. A SQUID 1 is constructed in such a manner. In order to apply a dc or ac magnetic field to a sample, a plurality of turns of a magnetic field applying coil 9 are wound around the SQUID 1. The magnetic field applying coil 9 is integrated on the same substrate 14 as that for the SQUID 1. The material of the magnetic field applying coil 9 may be a superconducting thin film or may be a normal conducting metal thin film. In this embodiment, a plurality of turns of the magnetic field applying coil 9 are wounded. The number of turns, which depends on the value of the current carried in the magnetic field applying coil and the conductivity of a sample to be inspected, may be single or plural. When a SQUID fluxmeter in accordance with the present invention is applied to a nondestructive inspection, a dc or ac magnetic field is applied to the sample by the magnetic field applying coil 9 according to the material of sample, and a change in magnetic field produced by a defective portion of the sample is detected directly by the washer coil 4, by which the position and size of the defect are inspected. For the sample made of a magnetic material, a property that the defective and non-defective portions have a different magnetic permeability is used, and a dc magnetic field is applied to the sample by the magnetic f ield applying coil 9. Since the applied dc magnetic field is distorted at the defective place, the distortion of magnetic field is detected by the washer coil 4. For the sample made of a non-magnetic conductive material, an ac magnetic field is applied to the sample by the magnetic field applying coil. An eddy current is produced in the sample by the applied ac magnetic field, and the eddy current is made turbulent at the defective portion in the sample. The turbulence of the eddy current is detected as a turbulence of magnetic field by the washer coil 4. FIG. 2 shows the portion of the SQUID 1 of the SQUID fluxmeter shown in FIG. 1, which is expressed by an equivalent circuit. In this figure, the connecting relation between the Josephson junctions 3, washer coil 4, shunt resistors 5, damping resistor 6, and feedback modulation coil 8 is shown with circuit symbols, corresponding to the schematic view of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a SQUID fluxmeter, showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3 as well, the SQUID 1 is expressed by an equivalent circuit for simplicity. In the aforementioned first embodiment, the change in magnetic field of the sample is detected directly by the washer coil 4, while in this embodiment, a special-purpose pickup coil is provided to detect the change in magnetic field of the sample, and an input coil is provided to input the change in magnetic field detected by the pickup coil to the SQUID 1. The magnetic field applying coil 9 wound plural turns is integrated around the SQUID 1. The planar type pickup coil 2, which is integrated on the same substrate 14 as that for the SQUID 1, detects the change in magnetic field produced by a defect in the sample. The input coil 7, which is magnetically coupled with the washer coil 4, transmits the magnetic field detected by the planar type pickup coil 2 to the washer coil 4. The shape of the planar type pickup coil 2 may be of a magnet meter type or a differential type. The magnetic field applying coil 9 not only is used for applying magnetic field to the sample to be inspected in nondestructive inspections but also can be used as a coil for sensitivity calibration in which magnetic field is applied to calibrate the sensitivity of the SQUID. The magnetic field applying coil 9 may be made of a superconducting thin film. However, it also can be used as a heat-flash heater for releasing magnetic flux trap which reduces the property of the SQUID by making it of a normal conducting metal thin film. As described above, according to the present invention, since the magnetic field applying coil and the SQUID are integrated on the same substrate, for the inspection apparatus employing the SQUID, the magnetic field applying coil need not be constructed outside, so that an increase in the scale of the apparatus can be restrained, providing a simple construction. When a nondestructive inspection is performed, magnetic field can easily be applied to the sample to be inspected. Also, the sensitivity calibration of the SQUID can be performed easily. The magnetic field applying coil can be used as a heat-flash heater by making it of a normal conducting metal thin film. This achieves various effects such that the magnetic flux trapped by the SQUID is easily released.

Claims: A superconducting quantum interference device fluxmeter comprising: a superconducting quantum interference device (1) having two Josephson junctions (3) on a substrate (14), a washer coil (4) connected to said Josephson junctions (3) to form a superconducting loop, a feedback modulation coil (8) magnetically coupled with said washer coil (4), a drive circuit (13) for operating said superconducting quantum interference device (1) as a fluxmeter; and a magnetic field applying coil (9) formed on said substrate (14) to apply a predetermined magnetic field to a sample (10) to be inspected, characterized in that the magnetic field applying coil (9) is integrated around the SQUID (1). A superconducting quantum interference device fluxmeter according to claim 1, wherein said magnetic field applying coil (9) is formed of a superconducting thin film on said substrate (14). A superconducting quantum interference device fluxmeter according to claim 1, wherein said magnetic field applying coil (9) is formed of a normal conducting metal thin film on said substrate (14). A superconducting quantum interference device fluxmeter according to claim 1, wherein a pickup coil (2) for detecting magnetic field and an input coil (7) magnetically coupled with said washer coil (4) are integrated on the same substrate (14) as that on which said superconducting quantum interference device (1) and said magnetic field applying coil (9) are formed. A nondestructive inspection apparatus comprising: a superconducting quantum interference device fluxmeter (1) according to any of claims 1 to 4, sample scanning means (11) for scanning the sample (10) to be inspected, and means for judging the position of a defect in the sample (10) to be inspected based on the detection result for the magnetic field applied to the sample (10) to be inspected.

Inventors: CHINONE KAZUO, MOROOKA TOSHIMITSU, NAKAYAMA SATOSHI, ODAWARA AKIKAZU, CHINONE, KAZUO, MOROOKA, TOSHIMITSU, NAKAYAMA, SATOSHI, ODAWARA, AKIKAZU
Applicants: SEIKO INSTR INC, SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: G01R33
IPC codes: G01R33, G01N27