China achieves major breakthrough in all-superconducting magnet

BEIJING -- China has achieved a 35.6 tesla all-superconducting magnet in an experiment facility, setting a new record, the Chinese Academy of Sciences said on Tuesday.

The all-superconducting magnet, with a central magnetic field of 35.6 tesla and a usable aperture of 35 millimeters was conducted with the Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility. It is a user magnet designed to support domestic and international research teams in conducting cutting-edge studies.

The record-breaking magnetic field is about 12 to 24 times that of a medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the strongest magnetic field people can access in daily life, and over 700,000 times that of Earth's magnetic field.

The development of this all-superconducting user magnet featured the design, manufacturing and integration of the superconducting magnet system by the Institute of Electrical Engineering of CAS, alongside the resolution of problems such as health monitoring and precise measurement for high-temperature superconducting magnets by the Institute of Physics of CAS. The successful development of this magnet is a result of the joint efforts and collaborative research by both institutions.

This achievement provides extremely high-magnetic-field experiment conditions essential for cutting-edge research in fields such as material science and life sciences, according to the CAS.

It will help researchers explore unknown phenomena in the micro-world and accelerate major scientific discoveries and technological innovations in basic research and high-end equipment manufacturing in China and the world.

High-magnetic-field superconducting magnets are devices that achieve zero electrical resistance and generate strong magnetic fields at extremely low temperatures. They feature extreme high magnetic field intensity, uniformity and stability, with very low energy consumption.

As one of the core facilities in modern technology, they hold significant application value in major national sci-tech infrastructures, advanced scientific instruments, high-end medical equipment, energy and transportation.