Nonlinear hysteresis in thin film SQUID magnetometers

Measurements on both YBaCuO- and Nb-based thin-film DC superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometers reveal a nonlinear hysteresis at fields above 0.1 G. The nonlinear hysteresis is sensitive to sample temperature but insensitive to the time scale of the field sweep in the millisecond region. Such hysteresis can be accounted for by the nucleation and subsequent displacement of vortices at the edges of the SQUID input washer. A model has been developed that relates hysteresis to film current density. The model predicts an asymptotic quadratic field dependence, quantitatively consistent with the present data, and also predicts a threshold field which is suggested by the data.<
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