News from Japan

Development of a RE-Ba-Cu-O Superconducting Current Lead - Today, superconductivity technology is attracting much attention, because it can realize zero electrical resistance and very strong magnetic fields. Although research and development work has been carried out to fabricate superconducting cables and various machines, e.g., rotating machines and transformers, the most successful industrial application so far is to the manufacture of electromagnets generating very strong magnetic fields. By using such electromagnets, the sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for pure scientific research, and of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for medical diagnosis, has been greatly increased.