Chinese scientists announced on Sunday that they have successfully generated a steady magnetic field of 351,000 gauss with a fully superconducting magnet, setting a new world record.
The breakthrough is expected to significantly advance the commercialization of advanced superconducting scientific instruments, such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers.
It also provides crucial technical support for multiple cutting-edge fields, including fusion magnet systems, space electromagnetic propulsion, superconducting induction heating, magnetic levitation, and efficient power transmission.
The magnet was developed by the Institute of Plasma Physics, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Hefei International Applied Superconductivity Center, the Institute of Energy of the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, and Tsinghua University.
Earth itself is a giant magnet, generating a geomagnetic field of about 0.5 gauss. Superconducting magnets, fabricated by winding superconducting materials, can generate extremely strong magnetic fields while enabling lossless transmission of large currents.
Researcher LIU Fang explained that the magnet uses high-temperature superconducting insert-coil technology, coaxially nested with low-temperature superconducting magnets.
The team successfully overcame challenges such as stress concentration, shielding current effects, and multi-field coupling under low-temperature, high-field conditions, greatly enhancing the magnet’s mechanical stability and electromagnetic performance in extreme environments.
During testing, the magnet was energized to 35.1 tesla, stably operated for 30 minutes, and safely demagnetized, fully verifying the reliability of the technical approach.
35.1 T Steady-State Superconducting Magnet – Field Distribution (Image by HFIPS)
The research team celebrating the record-breaking moment (Image by HFIPS)
