This book presents the basics of superconductivity and applications of superconducting magnets. It explains the phenomenon of superconductivity, describes theories of superconductivity, and discusses type II and high-temperature cuprate superconductors. The main focus of the book is the application of superconducting magnets in accelerators, fusion reactors and other advanced applications such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), high-gradient magnetic separation (HGMS), and superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES).
This new and significantly extended second edition covers the state of the art in the development of novel superconductors for advanced magnet applications, as well as the production of practical superconducting wires, tapes, and ultra high current cables used for high-field magnets. It includes two new chapters each devoted to MgB2 and Fe-based superconductors, and discusses the recently developed and world record-setting 45.5-Tesla magnetic field generated by a combination of conventional and high-temperature cuprate superconducting magnets. In addition, it discusses the status and outlook of all current and future nuclear fusion reactors worldwide. The chapter on accelerators includes the ongoing efforts to build high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), the high-energy 28 TeV LHC (HE-LHC), the future circular collider (FCC) at CERN, and the just launched electro-ion collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The book is based on the long-standing experience of the author in studying superconducting materials, building magnets and delivering numerous lectures to research scholars and students. The book provides comprehensive and fundamental knowledge in the field of applied superconductivity, greatly benefiting researchers and graduate students wishing to learn more about the various aspects of superconductivity and advanced magnet applications.
Ram Gopal Sharma is an emeritus scientist at the Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) in New Delhi, India and Advisor to the Cryogenics and Applied Superconductivity Group on the project "Indigenous Development of a 1.5 T MRI magnet System" sponsored by the Ministry of Electronics and Telecommunication, government of India. He has been active in the fields of superconducting materials, superconducting magnets and low-temperature physics for 57 years. In 2001 he retired from National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi as Deputy Director and Head of the Division of Cryogenics and Superconductivity. During the period 2003 - 2009 he was a visiting professor the Legano National Laboratory (INFN), Padova University, Italy, where he lectured on superconducting materials and mentored Laurea and PhD students.
Dr. Sharma guided 10 Ph.D. students on superconducting materials and magnets and has published close to 120 research papers in international peer-reviewed journals such as Physical Review, Cryogenics, Journal of Low-Temperature Physics, journal of Physics and IEEE Transactions. So far he has delivered about 200 lectures at various national symposia. He has also delivered 168 invited talks and course lectures to masters and PhD students both in India and Italy after his retirement in 2001. He was the Chief Editor "Indian Journal of Cryogenics" from 2014 to 2020. He is the recipient of Indian Cryogenics Council (ICC) Lifetime Achievement Award (2014), the Prof. R. Srinivasan Award for Low Temperature Physics/Cryogenic (2003), the 1996 Materials Research Society of India Medal, the NPL Merit Award (1977), and the A. N. Chatterjee Memorial Award (1977).
