Superconducting accelerometer, acceleration measuring apparatus, and acceleration measuring method

An acceleration measurement device comprising:

• a dewar in which a coolant is stored;
• a sealing can disposed inside the dewar and filled with a helium gas after being vacuum-exhausted;
• and
• an acceleration sensor disposed inside the sealing can,
• wherein the acceleration sensor comprises:
• a test mass including a rod-shaped body part, a neck part connected to the body part, and a disc-shaped coupling part connected to the neck part;
• a solenoid levitation coil disposed to surround a portion of the body part and adapted to magnetically levitate the test mass, the solenoid levitation coil being made of a superconductor;
• a measurement superconductor coil disposed at at least one side of an upper portion and a lower portion of the coupling part;
• and
• a SQUID sensor adapted to detect current depending on distance between the test mass and the measurement superconductor coil.

An acceleration measurement method comprising:

• cooling a test mass including a rod-shaped body part, a neck part connected to the body part, and a disc-shaped coupling part connected to the neck part and made of a superconductor, a solenoid levitation coil disposed to surround a portion of the body part and made of a superconductor, and a measurement superconductor coil;
• applying first permanent current to the solenoid levitation coil to levitate the test mass;
• applying second permanent current to the measurement superconductor coil disposed at least one side of an upper portion and a lower portion of the coupling part;
• and
• detecting variation of the second permanent current depending on acceleration variation by the SQUID sensor.