Superconducting Magnet Technology – status, trends and prospects

A prerequisite for NMR is the presence of B0 – the magnetic field setting the base. This magnetic field may be produced by several means. Permanent magnets have their limits and the very first dream after the discovery of superconductivity was the preparation of a “high-field magnet” addressed in a project already by K. Onnes. Eventually it took several decades, material development and enabling technologies to bring the NMR technology to a “commodity”. The corresponding B0-magnets of considerable magnetic field are still dominated by the low-temperature superconductors (LTS) and the corresponding low-temperature cryogenics.
However, after some decades now, the high-temperature superconductors (HTS) have become quite mature and commercially viable. These materials offer not only new approaches in cryogenics, but new realizations and functionalities.
This contribution will sketch the past developments and highlights the novel chances and prospects in the field of superconducting magnet technology.