Cryogenic magnetometer research at Twente University of Technology

In 1982 we started the project ‘Cryogenic Magnetometers’ with the aim to develop SQUID-magnetometers appropriate to a large variety of applications. The first system we developed is a SQUID-magnetometer with an open-ended horizontal access at room temperature. The measuring space inside the pick-up coils is easy accessible and the magnetization (remanent or induced) can be measured of materials in a static position or transported through the access.\ud \ud Further, systems have been developed with the pick-up coil set outside the cryostat, in order to arrive at a flexible system with which the object under investigation can be approached as close as possible. Another part of the project is the optimization of magnetometers with respect to the cryogenic system in order to develop cryogenic magnetometer systems with a very long time between helium refills. The present status of these three research subjects is briefly described

INFLATION, CASH FLOWS, AND GROWTH: SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FARM FIRM

Agribusiness,

Temporary Research Space - The Industrial Road Project - Guangzhou

Using Guangzhou’s historic Industrial Road as a case study, the project investigates the transformation of everyday life and landscapes in the Chinese megacity. In the Maoist era, Industrial Road typified the emphasis on the city as a site of collectivized industrial production, with State Owned Enterprises and workers housing compounds, densely packed along the five and a half kilometres stretch of road. Today the factories along Industrial Road have either closed or are being relocated to the expanding outskirts of the city. Traditional workers housing and public spaces associated with the factories are being demolished and replaced by spaces of consumption and luxury apartment complexes. Project researchers will share their work in progress in the form of a Temporary Research Space, designed as an open public forum. Guests will be invited to view or handle some of the materials generated so far, including photographs and video of walks and interviews with project participant Mr Li, a resident of Industrial Road and former shipyard worker. John van Aitken, Jane Brake (IUD) and Dr Huizhen Du (GDUFS) will give short presentations, inviting the audience to participate in a dialogue about what is lost and gained in the process of urban change, which is shaping world cities everywhere. The Industrial Road Project is a collaboration between the Institute of Urban Dreaming (IUD), Salford UK & Dr Du, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), Guangzhou China. Manchester's Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art will host the space and the event. IUD engages in research, practice and interdisciplinary partnerships about housing and planned environments, with a commitment to spatial justice. www.iudblog.or

Multichannel heart scanner based on high-Tc SQUIDs

A 7-channel magnetometer for magnetocardiography based on high-T c SQUIDs has been realized. This magnetometer is used for test experiments in the development of a multichannel high-Tc SQUID based heart-scanner for clinical applications. The intrinsic noise level of the channels in the 7-channel system is typically 120 fT/¿(Hz) down to 1 Hz. Magnetocardiograms were recorded inside a magnetically shielded room. Introductory experiments were performed on the suppression of noise by combining magnetometers to form planar gradiometers. The noise suppression that can be established appeared to be limited by the imbalance of the gradiometric configuration, which is roughly 2%. This relatively poor balance of the system is caused by inaccuracies in the transfer functions of the individual SQUID magnetometers, and by deviations from the planar geometr

Partial lattice participation in the spin-lattice relaxation of potassium chromium alum

We developed a SQUID-based frequency sweeping system for a.c. susceptibility measurements. Using this instrument we found that in Potassium Chromium Alum only a part of the lattice system is involved in the spin-lattice relaxation process. This partial lattice participation amounts 60–75% of the total lattice specific heat

Non-random dispersal in the butterfly Maniola jurtina: implications for metapopulation models

The dispersal patterns of animals are important in metapopulation ecology because they affect the dynamics and survival of populations. Theoretical models assume random dispersal but little is known in practice about the dispersal behaviour of individual animals or the strategy by which dispersers locate distant habitat patches. In the present study, we released individual meadow brown butterflies (Maniola jurtina) in a non-habitat and investigated their ability to return to a suitable habitat. The results provided three reasons for supposing that meadow brown butterflies do not seek habitat by means of random flight. First, when released within the range of their normal dispersal distances, the butterflies orientated towards suitable habitat at a higher rate than expected at random. Second, when released at larger distances from their habitat, they used a non-random, systematic, search strategy in which they flew in loops around the release point and returned periodically to it. Third, butterflies returned to a familiar habitat patch rather than a non-familiar one when given a choice. If dispersers actively orientate towards or search systematically for distant habitat, this may be problematic for existing metapopulation models, including models of the evolution of dispersal rates in metapopulations

The UT 19-channel DC SQUID based neuromagnetometer

A l9-channel DC SQUID based neuromagnetometer is under construction at the University of Twente (UT). Except for the cryostat all elements of the system are developed at the UT. It comprises 19 wire-wound first-order gradiometers in a hexagonal configuration. The gradiometers are connected to planar DC SQUIDS fabricated with a Nb/Al, AlOx/Nb technology. For this connection we developed a method to bond a Nb wire to a Nb thin-film. The SQUIDs are placed in compartmentalised Nb modules. Further, external feedback is incorporated in order to eliminate cross talk between the gradiometers. The electronics basically consist of a phase-locked loop operating with a modulation frequency of 100 kHz. Between SQUID and preamplifier a small transformer is used to limit the noise contribution of the preamplifier. In the paper the overall system is described, and special attention is paid to the SQUID module (bonding, compartments, external-feedback setup, output transformer)