Superconducting magnet

<p>A superconducting magnet is an <a href="/facts/Electromagnet/3YMYtSMX">electromagnet</a> made from coils of <a href="/facts/Superconducting_wire/LNwaSGr0">superconducting wire</a>. They must be cooled to <a href="/facts/Cryogenic/cw7dHAkp">cryogenic</a> temperatures during operation. In its superconducting state the wire has no <a href="/facts/Electrical_resistance/hxSt0UAj">electrical resistance</a> and therefore can conduct much larger <a href="/facts/Electric_current/Dc1xdnUX">electric currents</a> than ordinary wire, creating intense magnetic fields. Superconducting magnets can produce stronger <a href="/facts/Magnetic_field/Ta8Ev588">magnetic fields</a> than all but the strongest non-superconducting <a href="/facts/Electromagnet/3YMYtSMX">electromagnets</a>, and large superconducting magnets can be cheaper to operate because no energy is dissipated as heat in the windings. They are used in <a href="/facts/Magnetic_resonance_imaging/Vh9yG9qq">MRI</a> instruments in hospitals, and in scientific equipment such as <a href="/facts/Nuclear_magnetic_resonance/pGYAn9Bz">NMR</a> spectrometers, <a href="/facts/Mass_spectrometer/RH5WBHJ2">mass spectrometers</a>, <a href="/facts/Fusion_power/jyETSzm4">fusion reactors</a> and <a href="/facts/Particle_accelerator/Pkuc08xC">particle accelerators</a>. They are also used for levitation, guidance and propulsion in a <a href="/facts/SCMaglev/ECmKX0dE">magnetic levitation (maglev)</a> railway system being constructed in <a href="/facts/Japan/U5mz0SRT">Japan</a>.
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Superconducting magnet open-in-new

Superconducting magnet