Superconductors, SQUIDs and Applications

Superconductivity has been a puzzling and exciting area of research since its initial discovery in the early twentieth century. With the advent of high temperature superconductors, superconducting technology has become available to a wide group of people and the field of superconducting electronics has grown significantly. One of the most utilized superconducting electronic devices is the Superconducting QUantum Interference Device, or the SQUID. SQUID magnetometers offer a way to measure extremely small magnetic fields and has uses ranging from the industrial analysis of metals to probing the fundamentals of physics.