Photo courtesy to Xinhua 

China has joined the top ranks of the world’s most powerful pulsed magnets with its self-developed 90-tesla pulsed magnet, which features coils that last twice as long and cheaper batteries.

“It took China only four years to transform a 70T magnetic field into 90T one, which was accomplished last December. For comparison, it took the US and Germany 20 years and 15 years, respectively,” said Li Liang, director at Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center at Huazhong University in central China’s Hubei Province.

While the magnetic field record remains in the hands of the US, which can produce a whopping 100T, the Chinese-designed equipment is believed to hold more advantages and is expected to break new records, experts said.

China created the world’s strongest synthetic fibers by winding multiple layers of polymer fibers, which were soaked in epoxy resin to greatly improve the bearing capacity of its reflective prosperities. The coils used in the US have a life expectancy of 500 times, whereas the Chinese coils can be used 800 times, Science and Technology Daily reported.

“We created the magnet from the scratch and designed a new frame for the battery structure, which consumes 10 times less electricity than the US’ pulsed magnet at peak power,” Li told the newspaper.

The strong magnetic field enables researchers to explore new material properties and stimulate the next generation of electronic materials and chips. For example, in November 2018, a Peking University research team in Wuhan used it to discover log-periodic oscillations in ultra-quantum topological materials.

“The strong magnet not only provides convenience for domestic scientific research, but has also attracted many overseas scholars from universities like Stanford and Cambridge to seek cooperation on research projects,” Li said.