Successful Test of Key Superconducting Coil for Future 40-Tesla Magnet

Published December 19, 2025

Large-scale coil (left), being wound (center) and in the dewar prior to insertion into the 45 T outsert (right)

A large coil fabricated with a high temperature superconducting tape (REBCO) has been designed, fabricated, and tested to demonstrate state-of-the-art magnet technology for the next generation high field magnets.

What is the finding

MagLab researchers successfully tested a REBCO high-temperature superconducting coil designed to mimic a future 40 T all-superconducting magnet. The coil reached its full design current of 645 A, generating 5 T on its own for a total field of 16.4 T; achieved 70% of its short-sample critical current—a first for a coil of this type; withstood seven forced quenches and maintained structural integrity; and demonstrated new field-control techniques to stabilize the magnetic environment.

Why is this important?

This test demonstrates that REBCO coils can meet the extreme performance, stability, and protection requirements needed for next-generation high-field magnets like the world’s first 40 T all-superconducting magnet, which will offer unprecedented research capabilities. This work also improves future predictive models for coil behavior and provides key data for design changes before final magnet construction.

Who did the research?

Iain Dixon¹, Shannon Griffin¹, Kwangmin Kim¹, John Rogers¹, Dharmendra Shukla¹, Yu Suetomi¹, Hongyu Bai¹

¹National MagLab, Florida State University

Why did they need the MagLab?

Only the MagLab provides the field strength, stability, and experimental environment needed to validate technology for a 40-tesla superconducting magnet. The MagLab’s unique facilities acted as a “magnet test bed” providing extreme environments that used the outer super-conducting coils of the 45 T Hybrid magnet to provide a magnetic environment of 11.4 T in a -452 °F (4.2 K) cold bore of 353 mm diameter.