The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany, has set a new world record by generating a magnetic field of 91.4 T for a period of a few milliseconds. This field strength was achieved with a copper coil developed by Sergei Zherlitsyn and colleagues.
The magnetic field was generated by passing an electric current through the coil. To withstand the potentially destructive Lorentz force — where the induced magnetic field creates a counter force on the electrons carrying the current — the coil was made from wires of a copper alloy reinforced with Kevlar. The coil created by these wires was wrapped in a second, outer coil. The wires of the outer coil were reinforced with a plastic coating. The combined coils were then covered by a steel jacket.
The inner coils generated 50 T, while the outer coil provided an additional 40 T to reach the record of over 90 T.
The previous record was held by a team at Los Alamos, USA, who achieved a field of 89 T. In addition to setting the world record, this is the first lab to make such high magnetic fields available for research.
Image: © Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany
