The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University has been awarded nearly $3 million to build a high-temperature superconducting magnet that will break records for magnetic field strength by aiming to reach 32 T. Around 8 km of cable formed from the high-temperature superconductor yttrium barium copper oxide, or YBCO, will go into the construction of the new magnet.
Superconducting magnets are well known in the world of particle accelerators (reaching a field of more than 8 T in the LHC, for example) and in magnetic-resonance imaging in hospitals (with fields of 1–3 T). They are also commonly used in high-field research, where one benefit is that they create more stable fields than do resistive magnets.
While superconducting magnets use a lot less electricity than their resistive counterparts, they traditionally operate at low temperatures that require costly cryogens. The high-temperature superconductor YBCO produces magnets that are not only cheaper to operate, but ones that do so at magnetic fields above about 23 T, where low-temperature superconducting magnets cease to work.
The construction of the 32 T magnet is funded by a grant of $2 million from the National Science Foundation and $1 million from Florida State University. The aim is to develop and demonstrate that technology will allow superconducting magnets to replace the resistive magnets in the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
