Research Team Led by Professor Seungyong Hahn of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Sets the World Record in DC Magnetic Field with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratoory

- Suggests a New Paradigm in Ultra-high Magnetic Field with No-Insulation High Temperature Superconducting Technology


 ▲ SNU Professor Seungyong Hahn of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

 
Korean researchers have set the world record in DC (direct current) magnetic field, with their advanced technologies in high temperature superconductor magnet, breaking the unbroken record (44.8 Tesla) that lasted for 20 years.
 
SNU College of Engineering (Dean Kookheon Char) announced on 13^th that the research team led by Professor Seungyong Hahn of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering succeeded in generating 45.5 Tesla magnetic field using no-insulation high temperature superconducting insert magnet. (1 Tesla is approximately 20,000 times Earth’s magnetic field.) This research was completed in collaboration with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab).
 
The most tantalizing problem in researches using high-temperature superconductive magnets was maintaining operational stability of superconducting magnets during accidents. Professor Hahn intentionally removed the electrical insulation of conventional superconducting magnets, what used to considered a crucial property, to suggest world’s first “No-insulation High Temperature Superconductor Magnet.” Hahn hence demonstrated that magnet burn-out can be prevented by automatic bypass of current around hot spots to avoid excessive heating during quenching. This significantly raised the stability of superconducting magnets and was praised to have changed the paradigm of superconducting magnets manufacturing.
 
In this research, the team designed their no-insulation high temperature superconducting insert coil with 50 times higher energy density than conventional superconducting magnets. This allowed the development of the “little big coil (LBC)” with only a diameter of 34mm and a height of 53mm.
 
The team also experimentally confirmed that the magnet bears the property that prevents it to be electrically burnt inside a 45.5 Tesla ultra-high magnetic field. Furthermore, they showed that the shielding current generated in high temperature superconductors causes a unique mechanical deformation in superconducting material under an ultra-high magnetic field and also suggested a possible solution.
 
Professor Hahn stated, “The research findings demonstrate not only that we can now safely generate ultra-high magnetic field that surpasses conventional limits with the new no-insulation, high temperature magnet but can also minimize its size.” He added, “We believe that this development will have a large impact on the medical field that uses MRI for cancer diagnosis, the energy field that involves wind turbines and energy storing devices, as well as many other scientific and industrial fields.”
 
The research findings, having received much recognition globally, was published on Nature on June 13^th with the first author being Professor Hahn. The research was completed with the funding of the National Science Foundation (NSF) of US, Samsung Research Funding & Incubation Center for Future Technology, and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF).
 

▲ (TOP) No-insulation Winding Principle & the No-insulation High Temperature Superconducting Insert Magnet
(BOTTOM) 45.5 Tesla Magnetic Field Reached Using the LBC