Design and performance of the ADMX SQUID-based microwave receiver
  The Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX) was designed to detect ultra-weakly
interacting relic axion particles by searching for their conversion to
microwave photons in a resonant cavity positioned in a strong magnetic field.
Given the extremely low expected axion-photon conversion power we have
designed, built and operated a microwave receiver based on a Superconducting
QUantum Interference Device (SQUID). We describe the ADMX receiver in detail as
well as the analysis of narrow band microwave signals. We demonstrate the
sustained use of a SQUID amplifier operating between 812 and 860 MHz with a
noise temperature of 1 K. The receiver has a noise equivalent power of
1.1x10^-24 W/sqrt(Hz) in the band of operation for an integration time of
1.8x10^3 s.
