The rules of attraction

A collaboration between Florida State University and superconductor manufacturer SuperPower has led to a new world record for a magnetic field created by a superconducting magnet.

The record 26.8 tesla was achieved at the university’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in late July.

The magnet’s test coil was wound by New York-based SuperPower with a high-temperature superconductor called yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO). The magnet lab’s Applied Superconductivity Center worked with the company to develop the superconducting and mechanical properties of YBCO and other materials.

‘This test demonstrates that YBCO high-temperature superconducters being made now for electric utility applications also have great potential for high-magnetic-field technology,’ said David Larbalestier, director of the Applied Superconductivity Center.

‘This conductor technology could be used to make all-superconducting magnets with fields that will soon exceed 30 tesla. This far exceeds the 22 to 23 tesla limit of all previous niobium-based superconducting magnets.’