A Full-Tensor Superconducting Gravity Gradiometer System Composed of Levitation-Type Accelerometers

In this paper, a superconducting gravity gradiometer system that is designed to measure full-tensor gravity gradients based on levitation-type component accelerometers without using mechanical springs is presented. All components of the gradiometer system are made of a superconducting material, niobium. Working principles are the flux quantization and the perfect diamagnetism of the superconductor. Each component of the gravity gradient tensor is obtained from the differential gravity measured by using two accelerometers, each of which is composed of a cubic test mass, a flat sensing coil, and a flat counter coil to balance the repulsive force of the sensing coil and ambient gravity. The measured signals are amplified by using superconducting quantum interference devices. The full-tensor gradiometer system consists of three perpendicularly aligned sets of gradiometers, each of which measures one diagonal and two off-diagonal components. The details of the structure of the system, the dynamics of the gradiometer, the transfer function, the common mode rejection, and the optimum conditions are discussed.