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Palm-Sized Superconducting Magnet Reaches 42 Tesla, Nears National‑Lab Strength

ETH Zürich's REBCO-based prototypes demonstrate over 40-tesla fields with sub‑watt power use.

Overview

  • ETH Zürich reports two all‑HTS prototypes in Science Advances: a two‑pancake design at about 38 tesla and a four‑pancake stack reaching 42.3 tesla.
  • The coils fit a 3.1 mm bore inside a roughly 63 mm outer diameter, shrinking high‑field capability into a palm‑sized form factor.
  • Built from REBCO tape using no‑insulation winding, full‑coil soldering, and continuous‑loop construction, the magnets achieve current densities up to 2,257 A/mm^2.
  • Initial nuclear magnetic resonance experiments were performed in the 3.1 mm bore, with plans to push direct NMR measurements beyond 40 tesla and a patent application in progress.
  • The devices draw under 1 watt of power, approaching the 45.5‑tesla national‑lab benchmark that consumes tens of megawatts and surpassing the prior all‑HTS mark near 26 tesla.