3 ms·

Agreed. Whilst it may well be the largest, highest-field "only" high Tc superconductor design in the world, it's definitely not the highest-field high Tc superc

Agreed. Whilst it may well be the largest, highest-field "only" high Tc superconductor design in the world, it's definitely not the highest-field high Tc superconducting magnet -- I believe that honour belongs to another bit of MIT with a 1.3 GHz NMR machine [1] (but I do remember something about Bruker collaborating with the US's National Magnet Lab and building a 30T machine -- I can't easily find a link). I really wish that press release would put the link to the paper at the top -- I found it very hard to work out what was actually new! [1] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6926794 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6926794

bb88 5y ago
This was a 32T field created, not sure if it's the same, but similar. https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/tech/201912/t20191209_227468.shtml https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/tech/201912/t2... Googling "30T magnetic field" shows some papers that have apparently "pulsed" 30T.
maccam94 5y ago
The magnet with the strongest magnetic field isn't necessarily the best engineering solution for a fusion reactor. In particular, these magnets need to be cooled (plumbing can be bulky and coolant can be difficult to work with) and allow for easy servicing of the reactor components (particularly the vacuum vessel which will need replacing every ~10 years due to neutron embrittlement). This magnet design is noteworthy because of several factors: high-temperature superconductivity means they're cheaper and easier to cool, the high field strength allows for a smaller scale reactor, and the physical construction of the magnets makes them cheap to build and allows for easy disassembly during maintenance periods.
baking 5y ago
That paper refers to a different magnet. The press release refers to milestone that was achieved a few days ago and has not yet been published. Their goal announced three years ago was to build the magnet and demo it this Summer. Let's just say they squeaked in under the wire since traditionally Summer ends in the US on the first Monday of September. (Unless you want to go with the equinox.)

bb88 5y ago

This was a 32T field created, not sure if it's the same, but similar. https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/tech/201912/t20191209_227468.shtml https://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/tech/201912/t2... Googling "30T magnetic field" shows some papers that have apparently "pulsed" 30T.

maccam94 5y ago

The magnet with the strongest magnetic field isn't necessarily the best engineering solution for a fusion reactor. In particular, these magnets need to be cooled (plumbing can be bulky and coolant can be difficult to work with) and allow for easy servicing of the reactor components (particularly the vacuum vessel which will need replacing every ~10 years due to neutron embrittlement). This magnet design is noteworthy because of several factors: high-temperature superconductivity means they're cheaper and easier to cool, the high field strength allows for a smaller scale reactor, and the physical construction of the magnets makes them cheap to build and allows for easy disassembly during maintenance periods.

baking 5y ago

That paper refers to a different magnet. The press release refers to milestone that was achieved a few days ago and has not yet been published. Their goal announced three years ago was to build the magnet and demo it this Summer. Let's just say they squeaked in under the wire since traditionally Summer ends in the US on the first Monday of September. (Unless you want to go with the equinox.)