The Institute for Solid State Physics
The University of Tokyo

Overview:

The research group by prof. Shojiro Takeyama, assistant professor Daisuke Nakamura and technical associate Hiroyasu Sawabe of the Institute for Solid State Physics, the University of Tokyo, has successfully generated and measured with a high degree of accuracy ultra-high magnetic field of 985 tesla (T) by electromagnetic concentration method. They considerably updated the current world record of 730 T (the same research group, 2011), which experiment was conducted in the laboratory and at a highly controlled magnetic field. The group was so close to reach to 1000T.

Since 1970’s, ISSP has been carrying out development of generating ultra-high magnetic fields with pulse method and using it towards applied research for condensed matter physics in the ultimate environment. Nakamura simulated and predicted with high reliability that a more powerful magnetic field could be generated by adjusting the value of the seed magnetic field, using a coil that generates highly efficient magnetic field for electromagnetic concentration, which coil was originally designed by prof. Takeyama. Meanwhile, it has been technically limited only to measure around up until 600 T with electronic measurement method due to intense electromagnetic noise, shock wave associated with high speed contraction of magnetic flux, and other problems including electrical breakdown. However, the group used optical measurement method called faraday rotation and enabled it to accurately measure magnetic fields close to the highest point field through various efforts and sophisticated measurement techniques.

It showed that strong magnetic fields close to 1000 T is possible to generate and indicated that going forward it is also possible to measure physical properties in the extremely super strong magnetic field environment of the 1000 T area. Since the magnetic field the group successfully generated could be spatially, temporally and artificially controllable as well as utilized for various reliable physical measurements, it is believed that it will become an extremely powerful tool for further solving physical phenomena in the field of semiconductors, nanomaterials, organic substances, superconductors, and magnetic substances in condensed matter quantum.

This research paper will appear in February 18, 2018 edition (and January 30, 2018 edition for online version) of Review of Scientific Instruments, a premier and world leading scientific journal in the field of measurement technology and device development published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP) publishing. The paper was also selected as “Editor’s Pick” by the same journal.

Reference:

• Publication: Review of Scientific Instruments 89, 016106 (2018)
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5003411
• Title: Note: An approach to 1000 T using the Electro-Magnetic Flux Compression
• Authors: D. Nakamura^＊, H. Sawabe, S. Takeyama^＊

Related link

• Takeyama Lab.|The Institute For Solid State Physics, the University of Tokyo