Mechanical Design and Analysis of an Eight-Pole Superconducting Vector Magnet for Soft X-Ray Magnetic Dichroism Measurements

An eight-pole superconducting magnet is being developed for soft x-ray magnetic dichroism (XMD) experiments at the Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (LBNL). Eight conical Nb₃Sn coils with Holmium poles are arranged in octahedral symmetry to form four dipole pairs that provide magnetic fields of up to 5 T in any direction relative to the incoming x-ray beam. The dimensions of the magnet yoke as well as pole taper, diameter, and length were optimized for maximum peak field in the magnet center using the software package TOSCA. The structural analysis of the magnet is performed using ANSYS with the coil properties derived using a numerical homogenization scheme. It is found that the use of orthotropic material properties for the coil has an important influence in the design of the magnet.