The Earth's magnetic field helps protect the planet from attacks from space. It is in particular what prevents humans from suffering the effects of solar and stellar winds emitted by the Sun and the other stars of the Milky Way. But its power was surpassed by a resistive magnet designed by Chinese scientists.
A material with resistivity is able to oppose the flow of electric current. Resistive magnets are typically made from wound metal wire, explains Interesting Engineering. The Chinese achievement made it possible to produce a magnetic field of 42.02 Tesla, making it the most powerful in the world.
Towards new advances in magnetic research thanks to this technological feat
Above all, it exceeds that of planet Earth by more than 800,000 times. This major breakthrough places the High Magnetic Field Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CHMLF) as one of the leading institutions in the field of magnets. Already in 2022, the laboratory had developed the most powerful hybrid magnet in the world (45.22 Tesla).
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It still took four years of work for the CHMLF to achieve its goal. The structure of the magnet has been constantly improved over the years in order to optimize its manufacturing process to achieve a constant magnetic field of 42.02 Tesla.
With the new Chinese resistive magnet, new frontiers are opening up in the field of research. Because these objects are mainly used to create installations dedicated to magnet research. Here, physicist Joachim Wosnitza, who works at the Laboratory for Intense Magnetic Fields in Dresden (Germany), believes that it is now possible to develop reliable magnets capable of withstanding even more powerful magnetic fields.
In terms of discovery, researchers could thus put their finger on new forms of physics. High-field magnets are essential for perceiving the hidden properties of certain elements, particularly in the field of superconductivity.
Very precise magnets for scientists, but also very energy-consuming
Alexander Eaton, a condensed matter physicist at the University of Cambridge, is excited about the future applications made possible by the Chinese magnet. Because it is once again with magnetic fields that states of matter can be manipulated. For him, this means the possibility of carrying out very sensitive measurements, in particular by facilitating the detection of subtle phenomena.
And these improvements can be made even if the Chinese resistive magnet beats the previous world record by less than a Tesla. It had been held since 2017 by the US National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (41.4 Tesla). But in the field of research, a single additional Tesla greatly increases the precision of measuring instruments. Which further underlines the performance of Chinese scientists.
Despite their operation being particularly suited to experiments, particularly due to the rapid increase in their magnetic field, this type of magnet remains singled out for their consumption. The CHMLF's resistive magnet required 32.3 MW of power to achieve its record, twice as much as the most powerful offshore wind turbine in the world.
It is for this reason that scientists are seeking to use hybrid or superconducting magnets in order to have an electric field that is still as powerful, but consumes much less energy. However, expensive manufacturing and complex cooling systems also have to be taken into account.
This article was originally published on October 22.
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