Superconducting magnets are capable of producing strong, stable magnetic fields without requiring large amounts of energy. This phenomenon can be exploited in many technologies, most notably MRI diagnostic devices, which produce clear three-dimensional images of soft tissue. But that’s not all, because superconducting magnets are important for the development of the transportation industry, including cable cars.
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However, the current superconductors in use mainly take the form of large coils made of an alloy of niobium and tin. They are quite large, which limits their use, but that may change soon. Using machine learning Created by scientists from King’s College London It is a powerful and cheap magnet based on superconducting iron, which opens the door to the commercialization of this technology. Details are described in the magazine NPG Materials Asia.
Using AI, we have created a cost-effective and scalable iron alternative, which is much easier to process and opens the door to smaller and lighter devices. The first iron-based superconductors were produced more than a decade ago, but the magnetic fields they produced were not strong or stable enough for widespread use.
Dr Mark Ainslie from the Department of Engineering at King’s University
New superconducting magnets promise new medical diagnostics
Using a new machine learning system called BOXVIA, scientists have developed a framework that can improve the creation of superconductors in the laboratory faster than before. BOXVIA discovered patterns that optimize performance and fine-tuned parameter changes to create the optimal magnetic design. Otherwise, the process will take months.
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The researchers also found that superconducting magnets developed using this system have a different structure at the microscopic level than those produced without BOXVIA – with larger iron-based crystals within the magnet structure. This means that the structure of the samples produced by the AI was different from the high-throughput samples produced by humans.
MRI machines have strict requirements regarding the strength and stability of the magnetic field produced by their magnets to ensure patient safety and image quality. The researchers’ prototype is the first iron-based superconductor to meet these requirements.
The challenge now for researchers is to piece together how the unprecedented nanostructure contributes to improving the superconducting properties of magnets. This, in turn, may revolutionize medical diagnostics, allowing the creation of devices that until recently were considered “impossible.”
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