In sci.electronics.design Okkim Atnarivik wrote: : In sci.electronics.design Spehro Pefhany wrote: : : On Fri, 13 May 2011 12:04:32 -0700 (PDT), the renowned Bill Sloman : : wrote: : : >No. Did have an interesting conversation with a couple of guys at an : : >Analog Devices presentation earlier in the week - they are developing : : >an infra-red sensing array which basically runs on the edge of super- : : >conduction, with super-conducting quantum interference devices to : : >amplify the sensor output. The whole thing is going into a satellite : : >with a closed-circuit liquid helium refrigeration system.
: : Some nasty vibrations from that cryocooler, I'll bet.
: Sounds like the SAFARI instrument for the SPICA mission. Actually, : EMI causes more headache than mechanical vibrations, currently.
To elaborate a bit: the final SQUID stage at 4K must drive several metres of cable before there is the first location in the spacecraft with enough cooling power to accommodate a decent semiconductor based amplifier. The 4K cooling budget does not allow very much signal power to be generated there, hence fighting to get enough SNR for the cable stretch with the presence of EMI is indeed a headache. I have been considering a 4K amplifier operating more deeply in D-class, or something with higher efficiency than a standard SQUID anyway. An intersting twitch is that the standard SQUID in a way
*does* resemble the D-class amplifiers: the signal is effectively pulse width modulated Josephson oscillation.
However, the schedule is so tight that there is not much opportunity to develop anything novel or unproven, so perhaps we'll go by the brute force and just shave the margins where-ever possible. A D-class CMOS amplifier
*might* do the job, but the handful off-the-shelf micropower CMOS comparators I tried failed a quick test at 4K. A test would require a full custom chip design it seems.
Regards, Mikko