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posted by martyb on Friday June 14 2019, @04:39AM   Printer-friendly
from the you-could-run-39-of-these-off-of-just-one-Mr.-Fusion dept.

For 20 years, the record for strongest direct-current magnetic field has stood at 45 Tesla. Now, researchers at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, or MagLab, at Florida State University have increased this to 45.5 Tesla using a high temperature copper-oxide superconducting magnet (for comparison, MRI machine magnetic fields run in the 1.5 to 3 Tesla range and there are now existing MRIs which operate at 7 Tesla.)

Seungyong Hahn, associate professor at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and a MagLab scientist, led the team building the new magnet, which is about the size of a beer can. “Little Big Coil 3” features a superconducting magnet inside of a resistive magnet, and rather than using niobium-tin, it uses a tape coated with a kind of “cuprate” superconductor called rare-earth-barium-copper-oxide (REBCO) that achieves superconductivity at higher temperatures. The tape is only the width of a hair and can be wound tightly, increasing the density of the electrical current and therefore the magnetic field strength. The team also left off the insulation which would otherwise help direct the current, but could cause the superconductor to lose its superconducting properties, or quench. Leaving it off increases the density of the current and allows for safer quenching, according to the paper published in Nature.

Extremely high strength magnetic fields are useful in various fields:

such as medicine (magnetic resonance imaging), pharmacy (nuclear magnetic resonance), particle accelerators (such as the Large Hadron Collider) and fusion devices (for example, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ITER), as well as for other diverse scientific and industrial uses.

Unfortunately for those with hoverboard dreams, the device requires 31 Megawatts of power to run.

Journal Reference
45.5-tesla direct-current magnetic field generated with a high-temperature superconducting magnet


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday June 14 2019, @11:16AM (3 children)

    by PiMuNu (3823) on Friday June 14 2019, @11:16AM (#855477)

    Superconductivity is limited by peak field on the conductor, current and temperature. There is a so-called "J-B curve" above which superconductors become normal conducting. Additionally, stresses in the superconductor are proportional to the magnetic field in which the wire sits. So it is not fair to say that this is a negligible achievement, even if additional coils "help" with the field.

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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday June 14 2019, @12:15PM (2 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday June 14 2019, @12:15PM (#855492) Journal

    So it is not fair to say that this is a negligible achievement, even if additional coils "help" with the field.

    Yeah, should've grinned. Apologies, I'm growing old and my grinning muscles are growing tired

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday June 14 2019, @12:49PM (1 child)

      by PiMuNu (3823) on Friday June 14 2019, @12:49PM (#855508)

      Sorry, I completely missed the sarcasm!

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday June 14 2019, @10:26PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday June 14 2019, @10:26PM (#855781) Journal

        My fault, you don't need to apologize.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford