Superconductivity: all wound up by the Swiss

A Swiss team has made a 100 % superconducting coil that can reach a magnetic field of 25 Teslas — a European first.

Superconductivity is the focus of numerous studies in physics since its electronic characteristics permit lossless current transport and the creation of very intense magnetic fields. These magnetic fields play an essential role in medical imaging and analysing complex molecules (including those used in drugs) as well as for particle accelerators. To generate ever-higher magnetic fields, physicists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) joined forces with an R & D team from Bruker BioSpin, a company based in Fällanden (ZH), Switzerland.

This partnership, which began in 2012 and is partly financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), has now borne fruit: the researchers at the two institutions have successfully developed and tested the first superconducting coil capable of generating a magnetic field of 25 Teslas. And it’s a European first!