On August 12, the hybrid magnet of the Steady High Magnetic Field Facility (SHMFF) in Hefei, China, generated the world’s highest steady magnetic field using a 45.22 tesla (T) working magnet. By comparison, the Earth’s magnetic field at 0° latitude and 0° longitude has a strength of only 0.000032 tesla. It beat the previous world record of 45 tesla set by a hybrid magnet in 1999 at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in the United States.
This 45.22 tesla hybrid magnet consists of a resistive insert embedded in a superconducting insert with a 32mm hole. Despite many obstacles, the team successfully constructed a hybrid magnet in 2016 that at the time produced a central magnetic field of 40 tesla, making it the second 40 tesla magnet in the world.
Evidently, 40 tesla was not the end. The team has since continued to pursue stronger magnetic fields. To achieve a higher magnetic field, we innovated the structure of the magnet and developed new materials,” said Professor KUANG Guangli, academic director of the High Magnetic Field Laboratory at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CHMFL), where SHMFF is based. “The manufacturing process of the bitter drives has also been optimized,” KUANG added in a statement made during an on-site verification by seven academics.
The success of the 45.22 tesla magnet represents an important milestone in the development of magnetic technology in China and the world. The Hefei laboratory has already broken three world records with its resistive magnets.
SHMFF, a user facility that currently provides scientists around the world with the strongest steady magnetic field, has operated for more than 500,000 machine hours since its operation and has provided more than 170 institutes or universities at home and abroad with experimental conditions for cutting-edge research multidisciplinary.
