Simpler by subtraction: Adelaide's 'bare loops' could make ultra-sensitive quantum sensors far easier to build

The most sensitive magnetic sensors ever built — devices called SQUIDs, used to image brains and listen for faint signals — are notoriously fussy to manufacture, because their twin loops must be exquisitely matched. Researchers at Adelaide University, led by Associate Professor Giuseppe Tettamanzi with PhD students Ross Monaghan and Jonathan Marenkovic, have found a counterintuitive fix: take parts away. By keeping the loops equal in size but replacing some with 'bare loops' — plain rings with no Josephson junctions, the components that make SQUIDs work — they create what they call a synthetic area spread, letting the sensor pinpoint exactly zero magnetic field while keeping its maximum sensitivity. The design, published in Physical Review Applied with an international patent application filed, could simplify production of sensors for brain imaging, medical diagnostics and communications.

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: tech innovation