Researchers at the MagLab are making discoveries today that will lead to the technologies of tomorrow. Whether a member of one of our robust in-house research groups or one of the nearly 1,400 outside scientists who do experiments here annually, MagLab researchers understand how high magnetic fields lead to making big discoveries.
Seeking the most powerful magnetic fields on Earth, scientists and engineers from across the world come to the MagLab to explore promising new materials, solve energy challenges and grow our understanding of living things. This kind of research has played a critical role in developing new technologies used every day – from electric lights and computers to motors, plastics, high-speed trains and MRI. Find out more by exploring our research initiatives, learning about our interdisciplinary research, or digging deeper into the hundreds of publications generated annually by MagLab researchers.
Research Initiatives
MATERIALS
Scientists use our magnets to explore semiconductors, superconductors, newly-grown crystals, buckyballs and materials from the natural world — research that reveals the secret workings of materials and empowers us to develop new technologies.
ENERGY
Scientists here are working to optimize petroleum refining, advance potential bio-fuels such as pine needles and algae, and fundamentally change the way we store and deliver energy by developing better batteries.
LIFE
With the world’s strongest MRI magnet, scientists here study everything from living animals to individual cells, from proteins to disease-fighting molecules found in plants and animals — work that could improve treatment of AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
Latest Science Highlight
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Smart Non-Linear Transport Technique Expands the Frontier of Superconductor Research
28 July 2020
Superconductors conduct large amounts of electricity without losses. They are also used to create very large magnetic fields, for example in MRI machines, to study materials and medicine. Here, researchers developed a fast, new "smart" technique to measure how much current a superconductor can carry using very high pulsed magnetic fields.
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Inducing Magnetic Ring Currents in Non-Magnetic Aromatic Molecules
28 July 2020
Magnetic induction is used in technology to convert an applied magnetic field into an electric current and vice versa. Nature also makes extensive use of this principle at the atomic and molecular level giving scientists a window to observe material properties. Using the 25 T Split-Helix magnet, researchers observed changes in the optical properties of organic materials due to currents induced by applied magnetic fields flowing in molecular rings, evidence that could increase the list of materials that could be used in future magnetic technologies.
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Integrated Coil Form Technology for Ultra High Magnetic Fields
23 June 2020
Tests of the first Integrated Coil Form test coil wound using REBCO superconducting tape show promise for use in ultra powerful magnets of the future.
Featured Publications
Smart Non-Linear Transport Technique Expands the Frontier of Superconductor Research, M. Leroux., Physical Review Applied, 11, 054005 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
Inducing Magnetic Ring Currents in Non-Magnetic Aromatic Molecules: A Finding From the 25 T Split-Florida Helix , B. Kudisch, et al., Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, 117 (21), 11289-11298 (2020) See Science Highlight or Read online
Molecular magnetic building blocks , J.-L. Liu, et al., Angew. Chem., February (2020) See Science Highlight or Read online
Exploring Topological Semimetals in High Magnetic Fields , J. Liu, et al., Phys. Rev. B, 100, 195123 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
MRI detects brain responses to Alzheimer’s disease plaque deposits and inflammation, L.M. Colon-Perez, et al., NeuroImage, 202, 116138 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
Analytical tool for in vivo triple quantum MR signals, V.D. Schepkin Zeitschrift fur Medizinische Physik, 29 (4), 326-336 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
Nuclear Spin Patterning Controls Electron Spin Coherence , C.E. Jackson, et al., , Chem. Sci., 10 (36), 8447-8454 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
Influence of a nematic phase on high-temperature superconductivity , P. Reiss, et al., Nature Physics, 28, Oct (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
High Magnetic Field MRI Evidences Pathwaysfor Metabolic Brain Waste Clearance, K. N. Magdoom, et al., Nature Scientific Reports, 9, 11480 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
Liquid State Dynamic Nuclear Polarization at High Magnetic Field, T. Dubroca, et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys, 21 21200-21204 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
Hafnium greatly improves Nb3Sn superconductor for high field magnets, S. Balachandran, et al., Superconductor Science and Technology,32, 044006 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
Why does magnetic switching occur at such high magnetic fields in Sr3NiIrO6? , K.R. O'Neal, et al., njp Quantum Materials,4, 48 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online