Here is the strongest superconducting magnet in the world, with a size equivalent to that of a roll of toilet paper.

According to a recent study published in Nature, the world’s strongest magnet has been created. Scientists at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Florida have developed a superconducting magnet that generates a magnetic field using an electric current.

The magnetic field strength has reached 45.5 tesla, breaking the previous record of 45 tesla. This confirms it as the strongest magnet in the world.

This is an illustration of “superconducting material,” not the magnet itself.

Named the “little big coil,” this magnet generates a strong magnetic field thanks to an electric current passing through a core made of REBCO, which stands for rare earth barium copper oxide.

The only type of magnet with stronger attraction is the pulse magnet. However, while pulse magnets generate strong magnetic fields only for a very short time, the new magnet can maintain its magnetic field as long as an electric current flows through the core.

“One of our missions is to push the technology as far as possible,” said researcher David Larbalestier in an interview. The goal and also the belief: to create a magnet that is as strong as possible and increasingly stable.

For the past two decades, the record for magnetic field strength has been 45 tesla. The amount of electrical energy required to achieve this record is immense, and the number of laboratories capable of recreating the world’s strongest magnet is very limited. Whenever research requires a strong magnet, scientists must go to one of these few facilities. Superconducting magnets use less energy during operation, but their magnetic fields are still weaker than classical magnets.

Superconducting magnets have many applications, such as magnetic levitation (allowing maglev trains to hover above tracks), nuclear magnetic resonance, or even, recently, China claiming to possess magnetic submarine technology with “stealth” capabilities. In an interview with Motherboard, Professor Larbalestier explained that magnetic fields can be used as a power source, with large energy fields capable of determining the structure of complex atoms.

The new magnet has achieved such significant strength thanks to a new design. The magnet is not insulated, meaning it switches from a superconducting state to a normal state very quickly and safely.

“We went against the usual approach,” Larbalestier said. “In the past, we usually placed resistive magnets inside superconducting materials. In this new research, we put the superconducting material inside the resistive magnet.”

The materials used in the new magnet are also different from before. According to the study, the record-setting magnet contains 12 thin disc-shaped coils (pancake coils) and is wrapped in an extremely thin layer of superconducting copper oxide. It is only recently that we have had the technology to produce such thin coatings, and this allows the new magnet to generate a magnetic field up to 60 tesla without significant damage.

The new magnet system is not yet safe enough to be present in every laboratory. It is still affected somewhat by the magnetic field strength of up to 45.5 tesla; close monitoring of the magnet’s operation is required to avoid any unfortunate incidents.

But with this breakthrough, it is likely that the scientific community will soon have a “new toy” to explore.

Source: genk.vn