Starting with the invention of the cyclotron by Lawrence, accelerator-based experiments have been the primary source of new discoveries in particle physics. In order to progress toward higher energy and luminosity, higher field magnets are required. R&D programs are underway to take advantage of new developments in superconducting materials, achieve better efficiency and simplify magnet fabrication while preserving accelerator-class field quality. LBNL has been developing accelerator magnet technology towards progressively higher fields, using Nb3Sn conductor in different coil configurations. We present prototype test results and design studies of accelerator magnets aiming at coil peak fields above 15 Tesla.

The interaction region design of the high-luminosity LHC requires replacing the recombination dipole magnets (D2) with new ones. The preliminary specifications include an aperture of 105 mm, with 186 mm separation between the twin-aperture axes, and an operating field in the range of 3.5 to 4.5 T. The main design challenge is to decouple the magnetic field in the two apertures and ensure good field quality. The approach adopted for the present D2 magnets, using the iron yoke as a shield between the two apertures, leads to large saturation effects. In this study, we propose an alternative approach where the iron yoke is designed primarily for low saturation, and the resulting large but current-independent cross-talk between the apertures is corrected with an asymmetric arrangement of the conductor blocks. A preliminary solution based on the LHC dipole cable is presented, and the expected harmonics for geometric, saturation and persistent current effects are provided. Finally, the feasibility of an operating field at the high end of the range considered is discussed, to minimize the D2 magnet length and facilitate the space allocation for other components.

Recent strategy updates by the international particle physics community have confirmed strong interest in a next-generation energy frontier collider after completion of the High-Luminosity LHC program and construction of a e + e − Higgs factory. Both hadron and muon colliders provide a path toward the highest energies, and both require significant and sustained development to achieve technical readiness and optimize the design. For hadron colliders, the energy reach is determined by machine circumference and the strength of the guiding magnetic field. To achieve a collision energy of 100 TeV while limiting the circumference to 100 km, a dipole field of 16 T is required and is within the reach of niobium–tin magnets operating at 1.9 K. Magnets based on high-temperature superconductors may enable a range of alternatives, including a more compact footprint, a reduction of the cooling power, or a further increase of the collision energy to 150 TeV. The feasibility and cost of the magnet system will determine the possible options and optimal configurations. In this article, I review the historical milestones and recent progress in superconducting materials, design concepts, magnet fabrication, and test results and emphasize current developments that have the potential to address the most significant challenges and shape future directions.

We have developed and tested a novel magnetic inductive antenna for detecting and localizing quenches and flux jumps in superconducting accelerator magnets during ramping and steady-state operations. The antenna principle is based upon sensing temporal variation of the axial field gradient in the magnet bore that is specific to propagating quench. Two antenna configurations were developed and built, optimized respectively for sensing disturbances of the off-axis (for the dipole magnet) and axial (for the quadrupole magnet) gradient of the axial field. The antennas were qualified during tests of LBNL's high-field dipole, HD3b, and LARP's Nb3Sn quadrupole HQ02b. A reliable and accurate localization of quenches and flux jumps was demonstrated. Upon ramping up the magnet current, we observed peculiar dynamics of the magnetic disturbances travelling along the cable at velocities of ∼800 m/s. Also, details of slow quench propagation in the HQ02 quadrupole at a small fraction of operational current were detected and recorded.

This paper presents the analysis of some quench tests addressed to study the dynamic effects in the 1-m-long 120-mm-aperture Nb3Sn quadrupole magnet, i.e., HQ02b, designed, fabricated, and tested by the LHC Accelerator Research Program. The magnet has a short sample gradient of 205 T/m at 1.9 K and a peak field of 14.2 T. The test campaign has been performed at CERN in April 2014. In the specific tests, which were dedicated to the measurements of the dynamic inductance of the magnet during the rapid current discharge for a quench, the protection heaters were activated only in some windings, in order to obtain the measure of the resistive and inductive voltages separately. The analysis of the results confirms a very low value of the dynamic inductance at the beginning of the discharge, which later approaches the nominal value. Indications of dynamic inductance variation were already found from the analysis of current decay during quenches in the previous magnets HQ02a and HQ02a2; however, with this dedicated test of HQ02b, a quantitative measurement and assessment has been possible. An analytical model using interfilament coupling current influence for the inductance lowering has been implemented in the quench calculation code QLASA, and the comparison with experimental data is given. The agreement of the model with the experimental results is very good and allows predicting more accurately the critical parameters in quench analysis (MIITs, hot spot temperature) for the MQXF Nb3Sn quadrupoles, which will be installed in the High Luminosity LHC.