High-Temperature Superconducting Magnets and Coated Conductors for Fusion, Imaging, and Power
This community focuses on the engineering and materials science of superconducting magnets, specifically developing high-temperature superconducting (HTS) materials like REBCO coated conductors and Nb3Sn for applications in fusion energy, high-field MRI, and power systems.
The work centers on the design, fabrication, and testing of superconducting coils and magnets, with a heavy emphasis on REBCO (rare-earth barium copper oxide) coated conductors, tapes, and cables. Key technical challenges addressed include critical current density, flux pinning, quench protection, and mechanical stability under high magnetic fields. The research spans the full lifecycle from thin-film deposition and joint fabrication to the assembly of large-scale magnet systems, such as toroidal field coils for fusion devices and dipole magnets for particle accelerators. Applications explicitly named in the literature include fusion reactors (tokamaks and stellarators), ultra-high-field MRI scanners, and high-current power cables.
Niobium research contributes the largest share of this community's output, accounting for 7.6% of all niobium research, with 5,405 papers here. Yttrium follows with 4.0% of its research, comprising 4,024 papers. Helium research contributes 2.7% of its total, with 2,595 papers.
The community comprises 23,793 papers, published primarily in IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Superconductor Science and Technology, and Cryogenics.
Recent work continues to focus on the mechanical and electromagnetic performance of REBCO coils in ultra-high fields, including studies on elastoplastic deformation, dynamic resistance, and current distribution in no-insulation coils. Specific projects include the CFETR central solenoid, the MARCO solenoidal detector magnet, and HTS magnets for proton-boron spherical toruses.