Strongest magnet proves highly attractive

The Hahn-Meitner Institute in Berlin has signed a contract with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Florida State University to build an $8.7m hybrid magnet for neutron scattering experiments.

When finished in 2011, the new, high-field magnet, which is based on the magnet lab's Series-Connected Hybrid concept, will be housed at the Berlin Neutron Scattering Centre. The magnet will produce a magnetic field between 25 tesla and 30 tesla - more than half a million times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field. It will be the world's strongest magnet for neutron experiments, eclipsing the 15-tesla system presently at the Hahn-Meitner Institute (HMI).

The magnet lab's Magnet Science & Technology division has been working with Hahn-Meitner since the summer of 2005, recently completing a design study. The results of that study were strong enough to convince the review committee of the German Helmholtz Association and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research that the investment in the new technology was worth the cost.