CHAPTER 3

CRYOGENICS

James E. Zinunerman

National Bureau of standards

Boulder, colorado, U.S.A.

The word "cryogenics" means the production and effects of very

low temperatures. Cryogenics is relevant to biomagnetic measure-
ments for one general and several specific reasons. The general
reason is that the sensitivity of sensors of all kinds, including
magnetic sensors, are inherently limited by equilibrium thermody-
namic fluctuations (conunonly called "thermal fluctuations," or in
some contexts "Nyquist noise") of whatever mechanism is involved in
the sensing process, and this is diminished by cooling the device.
The most important specific reason relevant to biomagnetism is that
superconducting sensors such as the SQUID must be operated below a
specific temperature (called the "superconducting transition tem-
perature") for the phenomenon of superconductivity to exist. In a
sense, thermodynamic fluctuations disrupt superconductivity if the
temperature is too high. In this chapter we shall examine the spe-
cific effects of these fluctuations and explain how an appropriate
low temperature environment can be established for magnetic field
sensors. For a general discussion of cryogenic techniques, the
reader may consult the book of Lounasmaa (1974).

To set the stage for this chapter's presentation, we illus-

trate in Fig. 3.1.1 a typical arrangement for a SQUID field sensor,
which is kept cold by inunersion in a bath of liquid helium. Each of
the elements plays an important role, as will be discussed. The
SQUID and aSSOCiated detection coil are surrounded by materials
that maintain the low temperature environment but potentially may
also impose magnetic noise. If adequate field sensitivity is to be
achieved, it is essential to understand what these various contri-
butions to the background noise may be. Most of this chapter is de-
voted to that purpose. At the end of the chapter we shall discuss
new technologies that show promise of eliminating the need for li-

43

S. J. Williamson et al. (eds.), Biomagnetism

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 1983
44 J. E. ZIMMERMAN

Control unit Voltage

output

Liquid helium dewar Liquid helium vent

/" Pump out port

Vacuum spoce

Radiation boHles

Vapor cooled
metal strips
Electrical leads - 11ttt-lt------1
Superinsu lot ion

Superconducting
shield
Liquid helium

Input coil ---t-Hl+I+---l--":~~

Molecular sieve
vapor trap

rl shield Toil section

01 dewor
Detection coil - - - _-IJl.JU..J

Fig. 3.1.1. SQUID system mounted in an insulating vessel contain-

ing a bath of liquid helium.

quid helium, at least for certain biomagnetic applications.

3.1. NYQUIST NOISE

An example of Nyquist noise was already introduced in Section

2.5.3, where it was pointed out that local fluctuations of the con-
centration of conduction electrons in the wire of an induction coil
translate into voltage fluctuations across the coil's terminals.
This effect, which is enhanced at higher temperature, in turn puts
a lower limit on the induced voltage that can be detected in res-
ponse to a small change in the magnetic field one is attempting to
measure.

The term "equilibrium thermodynamic fluctuations" means the

random fluctuations which go on continuously in any system whatever
that is at some uniform absolute temperature T, even though it may