|
New
Release -- Superconductor Week does not edit or endorse the following
news release:
Magnet Lab to Build World's Strongest Magnet for "Neutron
Scattering" Experiments
Tallahassee, FL, 3 April 2007: The
Hahn-Meitner Institute
in Berlin has contracted with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and
Florida State University to build an $8.7-million hybrid magnet for “neutron
scattering” experiments.
When finished in 2011, the new, high-field
magnet, which is based on the Magnet Lab’s
Series-Connected Hybrid concept, will be housed at the
Berlin Neutron Scattering
Center. The magnet will produce a magnetic field between 25 tesla and 30
tesla – more than half a million times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field.
It will be the world’s strongest magnet for neutron experiments, eclipsing the
15-tesla system presently at the Hahn-Meitner Institute (HMI).
The Magnet Lab’s
Magnet Science &
Technology division has been working with Hahn-Meitner since the summer of
2005, recently completing a design study. The results of that study were strong
enough to convince the review committee of the German Helmholtz Association and
the Federal Ministry of Education and Research that the investment in the new
technology was worth the cost.
“Part of the challenge in science is figuring out
how to maximize resources,” said
Mark Bird, interim director of the Magnet Science & Technology division. “We
can’t always afford to bring the tools and techniques to the magnets; sometimes
we have to bring the magnets to the tools to advance the science.”
The lab’s Series-Connected Hybrid combines
copper-coil “resistive” magnet technology in the magnet’s interior with a
superconducting magnet, cooled with liquid helium, on the exterior. The
copper-coil insert is powered by an electrical current, while the
superconducting outsert conducts electricity without resistance as long as it is
kept colder than 450 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. By combining the power
supplies of these two technologies, engineers can produce extremely high
magnetic fields using just one-third of the power required by traditional
magnets.
The version that Magnet Lab engineers will build
for HMI is different in that its bore, or experimental space, will be conical to
allow neutrons to be scattered through large angles. It also will be horizontal,
as opposed to the traditional vertical bore of most high-field magnets. These
modifications make the magnet ideal for neutron scattering experiments, which
are among the best methods for probing atoms to better understand the structure
of materials.
“With this major piece of equipment, Hahn-Meitner
Institute itself becomes a magnet, pulling in researchers from around the world
to Berlin,” said Thomas Rachel, parliamentary state secretary of the Federal
Ministry of Education and Research.
Neutrons are remarkable probes of phenomena
within solids. With this new magnet, scientists from around the world will be
able to carry out experiments that aren’t currently possible. Presently, one of
the greatest challenges in condensed matter physics is to develop a
comprehensive theory describing high-temperature superconductors. The
combination of neutrons and high magnetic fields will allow scientists to study
the normal state of high-temperature superconductors in the low-temperature
limit. In addition, it will be possible to probe hydrogen structure in both
biological and hydrogen-storage materials.
The project is funded primarily through the
German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. In addition to the
$8.7-million magnet, the Germans are putting $14.4 million into infrastructure,
such as cooling and current supplies, needed to run a high-field magnet. The
agreement will be administered by the Florida State University Magnet Research
and Development Co., a not-for-profit direct support organization of the magnet
lab.
The announcement comes just six months after the
National Science Foundation
awarded the Magnet Lab an
$11.7-million grant to build a 36-tesla Series Connected Hybrid, expected to
come online in 2011, for the Tallahassee facility. Together with Johns Hopkins
University, the lab also is conducting an NSF-funded engineering design of a
split-gap Series-Connected Hybrid for the
Spallation Neutron Source, a
neutron facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Return
to industry news releases |
