High-field superconductor technology

The past two years have seen the acceptance of superconducting magnets for engineering installations, the development of more advanced and robust engineering materials than the earlier conductors, and the wider application of high-field superconducting magnets in development programs for high-energy physics and thermonuclear fusion research. Their principal advantage is the great saving in operating cost when used in large-volume magnets up to 3 teslas. At higher fields a further advantage is their lower capital cost as compared with that of conventional electromagnets. They also have the potential, not as yet realized, of being more compact than a conventional electromagnet of identical performance.