High-temperature superconducting materials for high field research magnets

A new agreement between Oxford Instruments and Florida State University’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (National MagLab) will advance future superconducting magnet products.

National MagLab’s Applied Superconductivity Center (ASC) has signed a research agreement with Oxford Instruments, a leading provider of high-tech products and services to scientific research and applied quantum technology communities, with an aim to leverage knowledge and skills. The licensing and sponsored research agreement sets to explore magnet technology based on a Bismuth-based superconductor, Bi-2212.

“We started studying Bi-2212 in the 1990s and returned to it again around 2007 because of its unique geometry,” explains David Larbalestier, Materials Scientist at National MagLab. “In 2014, a discovery that the overpressure processing we had used for another bismuth-based conductor could be applied to Bi-2212 was game-changing in yielding the kinds of critical current density that make this conductor’s applications very exciting.”

“The discovery and development of new quantum materials and their underlying physics is a significant underpinning of quantum technologies and the future green economy. Physicists need not only high magnetic fields but the greater access, stability, and uniformity that all-superconducting magnets bring. This is why today’s announcement is so important,” says Matt Martin, Senior Director of Engineering at Oxford Instruments NanoScience. “By combining the expertise and facilities developed at MagLab with Oxford Instruments’ proven track record manufacturing magnets for our customers around the world, the transition of the Bi-2212 technology from promising R&D through to a range of applications can now be realized.”

The agreement between Oxford Instruments and MagLab’s ASC will not only result in research with exciting commercial potential, but also provide new training opportunities and prospective career paths for students and post-doctoral students studying Bi-2212.

“Our continued relationship with Oxford Instruments has helped propel the entire magnet technology field forward - expanding the number of scientists who use magnets for their research and growing a strong commercial magnet sector that now employs many professionals trained here at ASC,” said Larbalestier.

Want the latest science news straight to your inbox? Become a SelectScience member for free today>>