Magnet may transform high-field research
The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University says it’s been given nearly $3 million to build a new kind of superconducting magnet.
Officials say they expect the new magnet will break records for magnetic field strength, make possible new types of science and save vast amounts of energy and money.
The magnet, funded by a $2 million National Science Foundation grant and a $1 million award from the university, is expected to generate a magnetic field of 32 Tesla. Tesla is the scientific unit of measure of magnetic field strength.
Scientists said such a magnetic field would be more than 3,000 times stronger than a typical refrigerator magnet, and about 45 percent more powerful than the strongest superconducting magnets available today.
The material that will be used for the new magnet is a type of high-temperature superconductor called yttrium barium copper oxide. Researchers say it promises to revolutionize research in high magnetic fields.
The magnet is scheduled for completion in 2012.
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