Superconducting Bi-2212 wire that has five times higher current and will enable superconducting magnets with over 30 Tesla

February 05, 2013

A group of scientists has discovered how to make better wires using a promising material known as Bi-2212. With this discovery comes the possibility of creating magnetic fields in excess of 30 Tesla, three to four times higher than those generated by present accelerator magnet technology.

Bi-2212 stands out as the only HTS (high temperaure superconductor) that can be fabricated as a round wire. This makes Bi-2212 a perfect candidate for winding cables and coils without significantly changing present magnet technology.

Researchers have developed a technique that prevents bubble formation almost entirely by performing the melting and re-solidification of materials under high external gas pressure. The group observed five times higher current in a long wire sample made by the new method compared to an identical sample made by the standard recipe.

Importantly, the electrical currents in the improved Bi-2212 wires were two times larger than the usual benchmarks used for the development of superconducting magnet coils.

This breakthrough signifies the birth of a new high-performance, very-high-field magnet conductor. Shen and his collaborators are optimistic that they now have the recipe for a new class of superconducting magnets that could help unlock information about chemical and biological processes, create new materials and reveal the fundamental processes of the universe.