Competiting technologies

The ability to generate high magnetic fields represents the largest and most diverse opportunity for HTS. This is where HTS magnets compete against:

• Elecromagnets
  Electromagnets have a limitation in high field applications because their cores reach saturation around 2 tesla (T). They also become large and bulky because of the volume of wire they need to produce high fields and need to be cooled because of the heat they produce.
   
• Permanent magnets
  Permanent magnets can only generate fields up to about 1T, are very heavy and cannot be turned off. While they don’t require any power, they are temperature sensitive, the field can’t be controlled and so generally need to be deployed with electromagnets if changing fields are required.
   
• LTS based magnets
  LTS magnets can generate fields up to around 22T and can be built so they produce a very stable and uniform field without consuming external power, provided they are kept below their critical temperature (around 4 degrees Kelvin – almost absolute zero). LTS has been the basis for magnetic resonance (i.e. MRI and NMR) a multibillion dollar industry and its dominant application.

Because of the complexity of the cooling system required, the shielding required to maintain them at low temperatures and tight temperature ranges they have to operate at, LTS magnets are much less convenient to deploy. They are either effectively always on or take hours to cool to their operating temperatures. They also typically use liquid Helium as a coolant and this is becoming a scarce resource.