China set a new record in the production of powerful magnets

Chinese scientists have succeeded in making the world’s strongest resistance magnet, which produces a stable magnetic field of 42.02 tesla. This magnetic field is more than 800 thousand times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field.

Resistive magnets, which are made of twisted metal wires, are commonly used in magnet research facilities around the world, reports Tecna Technology Media Science News Department. This achievement is seen as another important development for CHMFL (High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences) after its success in 2022 with the world’s most powerful 45.22 Tesla hybrid magnet.

According to the institute, after almost four years of continuous efforts, scientists and engineers have refined the structure of the magnet, optimized its manufacturing process, and achieved a stable magnetic field of 42.02 Tesla with a power supply of 32.3 MW, and the record of 41.4 Tesla, which It was recorded by the US National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in 2017.

China’s record-breaking magnet sets the stage for the development of reliable magnets capable of sustaining even stronger magnetic fields, according to Joachim Wosnitza, a physicist at the Upper Magnetic Field Laboratory in Dresden, Germany. These advances could pave the way for researchers to discover unexpected new physics.

High-field magnets are essential tools for investigating the hidden properties of advanced materials such as superconductors, which can carry electric current at extremely low temperatures without generating waste heat. These powerful magnetic fields also offer opportunities to observe entirely new physical phenomena and manipulate states of matter, providing valuable insights into condensed matter physics.

According to Alexander Eaton, a condensed matter physicist at the University of Cambridge, high magnetic fields are particularly useful for experiments that require highly sensitive measurements because they increase resolution and make it easier to detect subtle phenomena. Each additional tesla significantly improves the accuracy of these measurements, enabling clearer insights into obscure physical effects.

Guangli Kuang, a high magnetic field expert at the SHMFF (Chinese Academy of Sciences Permanent High Magnetic Field Facility), explained that the team spent years refining the magnet to achieve this new record, noting that the achievement was not easy.

A new study highlights the benefits of resistive magnets

Resistive magnets, although older technology, can maintain high magnetic fields for longer periods of time than newer fully superconducting or hybrid magnets. They also have the advantage of rapidly increasing their magnetic fields, which makes them very versatile for experiments. However, their main disadvantage is their significant power consumption, which makes them expensive to operate. For example, the SHMFF resistive magnet required 32.3 MW of electricity to achieve its record-breaking field, necessitating a strong scientific justification for such resource use.

The challenge of high power consumption necessitates the development of fully superconducting and hybrid magnets that can generate high magnetic fields with less energy. In 2019, NHMFL researchers built a small superconducting magnet that briefly achieved a field of 45.5 tesla, and are now working on a larger 40 tesla superconducting magnet for experiments. Meanwhile, the SHMFF team is building a 55 Tesla hybrid magnet. These newer magnets are expected to be cheaper than resistive magnets, but they also have their own challenges, such as higher manufacturing costs and complex cooling systems.