Sisyphus effects in a microwave-excited flux-qubit resonator system

Sisyphus amplification, familiar from quantum optics, has recently been reported as a mechanism to explain the enhanced quality factor of a classical resonant (tank) circuit coupled to a superconducting flux qubit. Here we present data from a coupled system, comprising a quantum mechanical rf SQUID (flux qubit) reactively monitored by an ultrahigh quality factor noise driven rf resonator and excited by microwaves. The system exhibits enhancement of the tank-circuit resonance, bringing it significantly closer (within 1%) to the lasing limit, than previously reported results. 2010 The American Physical Society

New directions in EEG measurement: an investigation into the fidelity of electrical potential sensor signals

Low frequency noise performance is the key indicator in determining the signal to noise ratio of a capacitively coupled sensor when used to acquire electroencephalogram signals. For this reason, a prototype Electric Potential Sensor device based on an auto-zero operational amplifier has been developed and evaluated. The absence of 1/f noise in these devices makes them ideal for use with signal frequencies ~10 Hz or less. The active electrodes are designed to be physically and electrically robust and chemically and biochemically inert. They are electrically insulated (anodized) and have diameters of 12 mm or 18 mm. In both cases, the sensors are housed in inert stainless steel machined housings with the electronics fabricated in surface mount components on a printed circuit board compatible with epoxy potting compounds. Potted sensors are designed to be immersed in alcohol for sterilization purposes. A comparative study was conducted with a commercial wet gel electrode system. These studies comprised measurements of both free running electroencephalogram and Event Related Potentials. Quality of the recorded electroencephalogram was assessed using three methods of inspection of raw signal, comparing signal to noise ratios, and Event Related Potentials noise analysis. A strictly comparable signal to noise ratio was observed and the overall conclusion from these comparative studies is that the noise performance of the new sensor is appropriate

Signal specific electric potential sensors for operation in noisy environments

Limitations on the performance of electric potential sensors are due to saturation caused by environmental electromagnetic noise. The work described involves tailoring the response of the sensors to reject the main components of the noise, thereby enhancing both the effective dynamic range and signal to noise. We show that by using real-time analogue signal processing it is possible to detect a human heartbeat at a distance of 40 cm from the front of a subject in an unshielded laboratory. This result has significant implications both for security sensing and biometric measurements in addition to the more obvious safety related applications

Remote monitoring of biodynamic activity using electric potential sensors

Previous work in applying the electric potential sensor to the monitoring of body electrophysiological signals has shown that it is now possible to monitor these signals without needing to make any electrical contact with the body. Conventional electrophysiology makes use of electrodes which are placed in direct electrical contact with the skin. The electric potential sensor requires no cutaneous electrical contact, it operates by sensing the displacement current using a capacitive coupling. When high resolution body electrophysiology is required a strong (capacitive) coupling is used to maximise the collected signal. However, in remote applications where there is typically an air-gap between the body and the sensor only a weak coupling can be achieved. In this paper we demonstrate that the electric potential sensor can be successfully used for the remote sensing and monitoring of bioelectric activity. We show examples of heart-rate measurements taken from a seated subject using sensors mounted in the chair. We also show that it is possible to monitor body movements on the opposite side of a wall to the sensor. These sensing techniques have biomedical applications for non-contact monitoring of electrophysiological conditions and can be applied to passive through-the-wall surveillance systems for security applications

Wearable electric potential sensing: a new modality sensing hair touch and restless leg movement

Electric potential sensors (EPS) are classified as capacitive sensors with the ability to measure small variations in electric potential or electric field remotely and accurately. Here we show how a low cost single chip version of EPS can be integrated into a wearable device such as smart watch to provide relevant information about habitual movements specifically, hair touching and scratching as well as leg movement. This new modality could be used in consumer care product research such as studying the quality of shampoos and to study restless leg syndrome remotely without the need of wearing additional sensors. In both scenarios, a single sensor was worn on the wrist, similar to a smart watch, with the sensing electrode pointing away from the body (i.e. no skin contact)

A novel non-invasive biosensor based on electric field detection for cardio-electrophysiology in zebrafish embryos

In this paper we report a novel biosensor based on electric field detection for recording cardiac electrical activity in zebrafish embryos. Using Sussex patented Electric Potential Sensing technology, a portable, non-invasive and cost-effective platform is developed to monitor in vivo electrocardiogram activity from the zebrafish heart. Cardiac activity signals were successfully detected from living zebrafish embryos starting at 3 days-post-fertilizatio

Giant Relaxation Oscillations in a Very Strongly Hysteretic SQUID ring-Tank Circuit System

In this paper we show that the radio frequency (rf) dynamical characteristics of a very strongly hysteretic SQUID ring, coupled to an rf tank circuit resonator, display relaxation oscillations. We demonstrate that the the overall form of these characteristics, together with the relaxation oscillations, can be modelled accurately by solving the quasi-classical non-linear equations of motion for the system. We suggest that in these very strongly hysteretic regimes SQUID ring-resonator systems may find application in novel logic and memory devices.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Uploaded as implementing a policy of arXiving old paper

Superconducting Analogues of Quantum Optical Phenomena: Macroscopic Quantum Superpositions and Squeezing in a SQUID Ring

In this paper we explore the quantum behaviour of a SQUID ring which has a significant Josephson coupling energy. We show that that the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian for the ring can be used to create macroscopic quantum superposition states of the ring. We also show that the ring potential may be utilised to squeeze coherent states. With the SQUID ring as a strong contender as a device for manipulating quantum information, such properties may be of great utility in the future. However, as with all candidate systems for quantum technologies, decoherence is a fundamental problem. In this paper we apply an open systems approach to model the effect of coupling a quantum mechanical SQUID ring to a thermal bath. We use this model to demonstrate the manner in which decoherence affects the quantum states of the ring.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, To be submitted to Phys. Rev. A. (changes for referee's and editior's comments - replaced to try to get PDF working

Characterising a solid state qubit via environmental noise

We propose a method for characterising the energy level structure of a solid-state qubit by monitoring the noise level in its environment. We consider a model persistent-current qubit in a lossy resevoir and demonstrate that the noise in a classical bias field is a sensitive function of the applied field.Comment: 3 Figure