SQUID
Science & Engineering abbreviation · Physics
| Stands for | Superconducting quantum interference device |
|---|---|
| Categories | Science & Engineering |
SQUID stands for Superconducting quantum interference device, a physics abbreviation.
Extremely sensitive magnetometer made of superconducting loops containing Josephson junctions, able to detect magnetic fields billions of times weaker than Earth's. SQUIDs measure brain activity in magnetoencephalography, probe materials and read out some quantum computers and astronomical detectors.
Example: The MEG system uses about 300 SQUID sensors cooled by liquid helium to map brain activity.
Usage notes
The device exploits the Josephson effect, predicted by Brian Josephson in 1962 (Nobel 1973), and the first DC SQUID was built at Ford Research Laboratories in 1964. SQUIDs must be kept superconducting, typically at liquid-helium or liquid-nitrogen temperatures.
Related abbreviations
More physics abbreviations
- RHIC – Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
- SEM – Scanning electron microscope
- SHM – Simple harmonic motion
- SLAC – SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
- SM – Standard Model
- sonar – Sound navigation and ranging
- SR – Special relativity
- STM – Scanning tunneling microscope
- SUSY – Supersymmetry
- TEM – Transmission electron microscope
- TOE – Theory of everything
- TOF – Time of flight