Chinese researchers have developed an all-superconducting user magnet capable of producing a central magnetic field of 35.6 teslas — more than 700,000 times stronger than Earth’s magnetic field — setting a new world record for such devices, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.
The breakthrough marks China’s arrival at the international forefront of high-temperature superconducting applications and is expected to provide “strong technical support” for research across fields including materials science, life sciences and nuclear fusion, according to Xinhua.
The magnet, installed at the national research facility for extreme conditions in Beijing’s Huairou Science City, uses a high-temperature superconducting insert magnet as its core and has a bore diameter of 35 millimetres. CCTV News said the device first achieved 30 teslas in 2023 and was subsequently opened to domestic and international researchers. Following upgrades to materials, structure and manufacturing processes, the team has now raised the maximum magnetic field to 35.6 teslas while keeping the bore size unchanged.
With this achievement, China now operates the world’s only all-superconducting user magnet able to provide fields above 30 teslas for materials science research, significantly enhancing the country’s capabilities in strong-magnetic-field studies.
All-superconducting magnets generate intense magnetic fields by exploiting the zero-resistance properties of superconducting materials. They are valued for high stability, excellent field homogeneity and long-term reliability. According to Luo Jianlin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physics, the magnet can maintain its maximum field for more than 200 hours and can be integrated with extreme experimental conditions such as ultra-low temperatures and high pressures.
“This enables a wide range of experimental measurements, including nuclear magnetic resonance, specific heat and magnetostriction,” Luo told the Global Times on Tuesday, adding that the magnet “greatly meets the needs of the research community.”
The device is housed within the comprehensive research facility for extreme conditions, a major national scientific infrastructure that achieved national acceptance in February 2025. The facility integrates ultra-low temperatures, strong magnetic fields, ultra-high pressure and ultrafast optical fields. The 35.6-tesla magnet will operate in coordination with other platforms at the facility, supporting scientists exploring the microscopic properties of matter, CCTV News reported.
All-superconducting magnets are prized for their extremely high field strengths and low energy consumption, giving them wide potential applications in advanced scientific instruments, high-end medical equipment, and energy and transport technologies. However, their development requires meeting stringent standards for field strength, stability, uniformity, effective bore size and long-term operational reliability, Xinhua said.
The magnet was designed and manufactured by the Institute of Electrical Engineering under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, while the Institute of Physics addressed system health-monitoring challenges. The facility will support research by scientific teams from China and abroad. The research team said it plans to further improve the magnet’s performance and develop even higher-field all-superconducting user magnets in the future.
“Strong magnetic fields are an important tool for studying materials,” Luo said. “They help scientists better understand high-temperature superconductors and quantum materials, and play an important role in precise analysis of biomolecular structures and the development of medical technologies such as magnetic-targeted therapy, contributing to disease diagnosis and treatment.”
