High-Tc second-order gradiometer for magnetocardiography in an unshielded environment

Abstract

We have fabricated planar first-derivative gradiometers in which an asymmetric flux transformer patterned in a single-layer YBa2Cu3O7−x film is permanently bonded to a directly coupled magnetometer based on a dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). The gradiometer base line is 48 mm. The common mode rejection of uniform magnetic fields is typically one part in a few hundred. The outputs of two such gradiometers are subtracted digitally to form a second-derivative gradiometer. Additionally, three orthogonal SQUID magnetometers are used to reduce the residual response to uniform magnetic fields to better than 100 ppm. The system is able to detect magnetic signals from a human heart in an unshielded environment.