Superconducting Devices for Biomedical Applications

Ethan Cho, Ph.D.
Post Doctoral Researcher
University of California, Riverside

In  this  talk  he  will  introduce  the  fundamental  concepts  of  Josephson  junctions,  a fundamental building block of superconducting devices and superconducting quantum interference  devices  (SQUIDs)–a  type  of  magnetometer.  The  fabrication  of  high-temperature  superconductor  Josephson  junctions  has  been  a  challenge  since  the discovery of high-temperature superconductors. Using the newly developed helium ion microscope  by  Carl  Zeiss,  Josephson  junctions  can  be  directly  written  in  the superconductor. This presentation will demonstrate recent results from focused helium ion beam Josephson junctions and SQUIDs. The focus of this talk will be on three main projects that his lab is working on and future projects. This includes a collaboration with Boston’s  Children’s  hospital  on  a  NIH  SBIR  SQUID  microscope  for  observing  single neurons  and  glial  cells  activities  in  the  kHz  range.  Also,  the  UCOP  Multicampus Research Program and Initiatives for SQUID MEG to improve the sensitivity and signal-to-noise-ratio  to  study  the  human  brain.  Lastly  the  joint  effort  between  UCR’s bioengineering chair, Dr. Xiaoping Hu to develop a low field SQUID MRI to examine diagnose tissue.

The presenter got his B.S. in Physics from National Tsing Hua University and his Ph. D. in  Physics  from  University  of  California,  San  Diego.  Currently,  he  is  a  post-doctoral  researcher at University of California, Riverside. His primary focus for his Ph.D. thesis is on focused helium ion beam Josephson junctions and he is now continuing this work by exploring  a  wide  range  of  its  potential applications  and  improvements  to the field of biomedical  imaging  and  spectroscopy,  wide  band  communications,  magnetic  field geo-survey, and THz imaging and spectroscopy.