COUPLING OF A HIGH-SENSITIVITY SUPERCONDUCTING AMPLIFIER TO A GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE ANTENNA

We report the first measurements on a dc superconducting quantum interference device (dc-SQUID) coupled to a gravitational wave detector cooled down to liquid-helium temperature. The overall system is composed of a 2.3-ton aluminum bar and a resonant capacitive transducer coupled to the dc-SQUID amplifier by means of a high-ratio superconducting transformer. The SQUID used in this experiment is a planar device with a multiple-loop geometry having both low noise and good coupling with the external world. The electromechanical equivalent circuit of the system, which is essentially a set of three coupled oscillators, is analyzed in detail in its normal modes and an expression for the effective noise temperature for each mode is given. Measurements are reported on the SQUID alone, on the SQUID plus the high-ratio transformer, and on the SQUID coupled to the antenna in parallel with a field-effect transistor preamplifier.