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Pages 5-19

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From page 5...
... However, the concept of a magnetic field as a description of the forces felt by magnetic objects, and the laws that govern the interactions between magnetic fields and ordinary matter, were first understood in the nineteenth century. It was shown that an electric current, produced by the motion of electrical charges, will generate a magnetic field in the surrounding space, while an electric charge moving in a magnetic field will feel a physical force in a direction perpendicular to the magnetic field and to the direction of motion.
From page 6...
... Much higher fields can be produced by electromagnets. Electromagnets can be made of any material that conducts electricity, regard less of the magnetic properties of its atoms, and they produce magnetic fields whenever an electric current flows through the conductor.
From page 7...
... Given the important role that high fields have played in past technological advances, it is a good bet that research involving high magnetic fields will continue to yield technological advances in the future. One indication of the broad range of research dependent on the availability of high magnetic fields may be seen in Figure 1.1, which shows the growth in research reports resulting from use of magnets at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHFML)
From page 8...
... Magnets for High Magnetic Fields Scientists have been building electromagnets that deliver fields of ever-increas ing strength since the nineteenth century. Two issues have had to be confronted at every step of the way.
From page 9...
... A major goal of research in high magnetic fields is to learn how to create superconductors with higher critical fields and to learn how to make magnets out of these materials. However, the highest magnetic fields attained to date have been produced by resistive magnets that are operated in a pulsed mode to minimize destructive heating effects.
From page 10...
... For these reasons, it is natural that the highest field magnets should be concentrated at a very small number of national facilities. In the United States, the most advanced facilities are run by the NHFML, which provides user access to dc magnetic fields in Florida and to pulsed fields at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico (see Figure 1.3)
From page 11...
... Also, some important applications of high magnetic fields require the combination of high magnetic field with other expensive facilities, which may be best achieved by the deployment of a specialized magnet at an existing facility such as a synchrotron light source or a neutron source. As mentioned above, the very highest magnetic fields for research are necessarily restricted to purpose-built facilities, which require significant infrastructure investments.
From page 12...
... photo taken by Dave Barfield, provided courtesy of NHMFL; (bottom left) photo courtesy of the NHMFL.
From page 13...
... In several important research areas, it is necessary to combine magnetic fields with measurement tools that are themselves highly complex and expensive and that may be available only at specialized facilities. For example, experiments may require use of magnetic fields in conjunction with X-ray or neutron scattering facilities available at a synchrotron, nuclear reactor, or spallation source.
From page 14...
... A centralized national user facility that provides the highest magnetic fields in the world for the purposes of research offers numerous benefits to the scientific community; it is an essential part of our national prestige and, as a centralized entity, is a cost-effective resource (more so than an equiva lent decentralized set of capabilities)
From page 15...
... resistive magnets. Conclusion: There are benefits to decentralized facilities with convenient access to high magnetic fields for ongoing scientific research.
From page 16...
... (3) Combining Magnetic Fields with Scattering Facilities and Terahertz Radiation Magnets for neutron or X-ray scattering experiments need to be built and operated at existing facilities that can provide neutrons or photons.
From page 17...
... (7) Magnetic Resonance Imaging Magnet Development Significantly increased field strengths available for MRI and NMR spectroscopy on humans and large animals could enable a number of important advances in medical science.
From page 18...
... (9) Recommendation: NSF, the NHMFL, and other interested entities that ben efit from the use of high magnetic fields should adopt the steward-partner model as the basis for defining the roles in future partnerships in high magnetic-field science.
From page 19...
... Success requires that these large facilities should have a threefold mission: (1) to generate the highest possible magnetic fields, by developing new magnets needed to produce those fields (magnet technology)


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