Design of a Tabletop Liquid-Helium-Free 23.5-T Magnet Prototype Toward 1-GHz Microcoil NMR

We present a design study of a liquid-helium (LHe)-free 23.5-T, φ25-mm RT-bore REBCO magnet for high-resolution 1-GHz microcoil nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. A microcoil NMR magnet is compact and thus its cost will be less by nearly an order of magnitude than that of the standard NMR magnet, and placeable on a bench, thereby resulting in a large saving in space. In addition, LHe-free operation enables the user to be independent from a cooling source in short supply. This paper includes: 1) magnet design and conductor requirement specification; 2) conceptual design of a full-scale tabletop LHe-free 1-GHz NMR magnet; and 3) design of a 10-K operating REBCO 23.5-T magnet prototype with a φ20-mm cold-bore. This small-size magnet prototype will be built and tested by 2020 for validation of performance and manufacturing challenges such as splices between coils. The paper concludes with discussion of stray-field shielding methods and a screening-current-inducing field (SCF) effect.