Long term operation of low noise DC-SQUID coupled to a very high Q gravitational radiation detector

We have coupled a very low noise dc-SQUID to the gravitational radiation detector of the Rome group at CERN laboratories. The SQUID used is a multiloop thin-film device with an input inductance of 1.6 μH, loop inductance of 5 pH and coupling coefficient of 0.5. The gravitational radiation detector is composed by a 2.3 tons Aluminum cylinder mechanically coupled to a resonant capacitive transducer; this is matched to the SQUID by means of a large superconducting transformer. The signal to be detected is essentially composed by the two mode frequencies at about 1 kHz and with quality factors of the order of 4×10
⁶
. To operate in a closed feedback loop mode we have used a particular setup in order not to degrade the performance of the system. The system operated for seven months with some interruptions due to refilling of liquid helium and various tests on the apparatus. The flux noise obtained was 1.5 to
3\times10^{-6} \Phi_{o}/\sqrt{Hz}
at 1 kHz with a linearity over 6 orders of magnitude and a long term stability of
1.5 \times 10^{-8} \Phi_{o}
/hour.