Towards liquid-helium-free, persistent-mode MgB2 MRI magnets: FBML experience

In this article I present our experience at the Magnet Technology Division of the MIT Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory on liquid-helium (LHe)-free, persistent-mode MgB2 MRI magnets. Before reporting on our MgB2 magnets, I first summarize the basic work that we began in the late 1990s to develop LHe-free, high-temperature superconductor (HTS) magnets cooled in solid cryogen-I begin by discussing the enabling feature, particularly of solid nitrogen (SN2), for adiabatic HTS magnets. The next topic is our first LHe-free, SN2-HTS magnet, for which we chose Bi2223 because in the late 1990s Bi2223 was the only HTS available to build an HTS magnet. I then move on to two MgB2 magnets, I and II, developed after discovery of MgB2 in 2000. The SN2-MgB2 Magnet II-0.5 T/240 mm, SN2-cooled, and operated in persistent mode-was completed in January 2016. The final major topic in this article is a tabletop LHe-free, persistent-mode 1.5 T/70 mm SN2-MgB2 'finger' MRI magnet for osteoporosis screening-we expect to begin this project in 2017. Before concluding this article, I present my current view on challenges and prospects for MgB2 MRI magnets.