Error Calibration for Crosstalk of SQUIDs in Full Tensor Magnetic Gradiometer Based on Moore–Penrose Inverse and Helmholtz Coil

In order to calibrate crosstalk error between superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometers in a multichannel SQUID system, we propose an innovative error calibration method for crosstalk of SQUID magnetometers based on the Moore–Penrose inverse method and Helmholtz coil in this article and successfully apply it to an eight-channel SQUID magnetometers based full tensor magnetic gradiometer (FTMG). We first analyze the causes of crosstalk through working principle of the SQUID readout circuit and build the crosstalk error model of the eight-channel FTMG. Then, we introduce the solution method of 56 crosstalk coefficients based on the Moore–Penrose inverse method and the construction method of matrix needed for solution based on Helmholtz coil. The effect of nonuniformity of Helmholtz coil on the calibration of crosstalk is analyzed and calculated. The effectiveness of the proposed method is proved by repetitive simulation and comparative experiments. Compared with the traditional direct measurement method, this method has the advantage of high efficiency, and the more the channels of SQUID, the more obvious is the superiority.