Superconducting Coils

Cool certain materials below their so-called critical temperature and they lose all electrical resistance. In this superconducting state, current flows without any energy loss — the foundation for exceptionally strong magnetic fields.

How it's built

A superconducting magnet consists of a coil of superconducting wire — often niobium-titanium or niobium-tin — cooled with liquid helium to extremely low temperatures while carrying current.

Advantages

• Very strong magnetic fields, since no energy is lost to resistance.
• Much higher energy efficiency than conventional, resistive electromagnets.

Applications

Superconducting magnets are found in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), where they enable high-resolution images of the human body, and in particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider, where they push particles to enormous speeds.