National Pulse High Magnetic Field Science Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology: Building a world-leading important weapon for major powers

Jimu News reporter Li Wanrong

During the National Day holiday, the National Pulsed High Magnetic Field Science Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology is still busy. In the experimental area, magnets, power supplies, and instruments are densely packed, and scientific researchers are debugging equipment and recording data. When the switch is pressed, the machine roars, and at the moment of discharge, a strong magnetic field equivalent to 2 million times the earth's magnetic field can be generated here. There is a group of people here who call themselves "magnetic chasers", and they are guarding an important weapon of a great country.

An important weapon of the country, leading the world

Although strong magnetic fields cannot be seen or touched, they are an important condition for modern scientific experiments. Li Liang, director of the National Pulsed High Magnetic Field Science Center, made an analogy: it is like "a magnifying glass for the microscopic world of matter." The stronger the magnetic field, the clearer we can see the microscopic world, and the more likely we are to discover new physical principles and new materials.

Back in 2007, the National Development and Reform Commission approved the formation of a team from Huazhong University of Science and Technology to build my country's pulsed high magnetic field experimental device. Li Liang served as the director of the National Pulsed High Magnetic Field Science Center. During the construction phase, the team did not copy foreign experience, but drew its own circuit design drawings. Key core materials and components were localized through independent research and development. In 2014, the device passed acceptance inspection and was officially put into operation.

Today, it is the only pulsed high magnetic field facility in my country and the largest in Asia. For more than 10 years, it has been open and shared around the world. Its results have been used in large wind turbine equipment manufacturing, magnetic resonance imaging, aerospace and other fields. Our country's strong magnetic field experimental conditions have also changed from "controlled by others" to "taught to others".

In terms of magnetic field parameters, the team continues to set world records: in 2018, it set a world record of 64 Tesla; in June 2025, it achieved a flat-top pulse magnetic field of 71.36 Tesla, which is 19% higher than the highest international level. In January 2026, this "70 Tesla high-stable flat-top pulse magnetic field technology" was selected as one of the 10 key core technological achievements in Hubei Province's "61020" scientific and technological innovation achievement list.

Relying on the platform, what did scientists discover?

This important instrument of a great power has attracted scientists from all over the world to "pursue magnetism". So far, it has attracted scientists from 142 domestic and foreign research institutes in 18 countries and regions to carry out experiments, assisted more than 2,000 basic cutting-edge research, and has published 6 high-level papers in Nature/Science and 52 sub-journals.

This year, relying on this platform, scientists have made important progress in multiple directions.

On April 23, "Nature" published the important progress of Associate Professor Li Danfeng of City University of Hong Kong and Associate Professor Chen Zhuoyu of the team of Academician Xue Qikun of Southern University of Science and Technology. Relying on the pulsed high-magnetic field facility, the research team observed for the first time a strange superconducting phase induced by the magnetic field in a system similar to the copper-based high-temperature superconducting structure under an ultra-strong magnetic field of 60 Tesla. The superconducting phase disappeared under low magnetic fields, and the superconducting state reappeared after the magnetic field increased, and could be stably maintained above 45T. The team of Professor Li Liang, Researcher Wang Junfeng, and Associate Professor Yang Ming of the center provided key ultra-strong pulse magnetic field conditions and electrical transport measurement support.

This result is not an isolated case. Since it was completed and put into use in 2013, the pulsed high magnetic field facility of Huazhong University of Science and Technology has supported Chinese scientists in making a series of important scientific discoveries. The team of Academician Xie Xincheng of Peking University discovered the third regular quantum oscillation with the help of a strong magnetic field of 60T, which is one of the most important discoveries in this field. The team of Professor Wang Yayu of Tsinghua University used micro-nano device transport measurement technology to study the evolution of Chen insulators under an ultra-strong magnetic field of 61T for the first time. The team of researcher Jin Kui of the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully suppressed the superconducting behavior of FeSe films using a strong magnetic field of 50T, and obtained experimental evidence of exotic metallic states for the first time...

According to statistics, the facility has been open and operated for more than 100,000 hours, conducted more than 2,000 scientific experiments for 142 domestic and foreign scientific research institutions, and published more than 2,100 SCI papers, including 8 high-level papers in the main journals of "Nature" and "Science" and 83 sub-journals. Behind these numbers is the persistence of the construction and operation team of the National Pulsed High Magnetic Field Science Center for more than ten years. Under the leadership of the team leader, Professor Li Liang, the team has always adhered to independent innovation, self-reliance and self-reliance, and has overcome world-class problems such as the generation and control of ultra-strong magnetic fields and precision measurements in extreme electromagnetic environments. It has mastered completely independent intellectual property rights of core components. It has not only broken the international blockade, but also has become an indispensable "Chinese force" in the global high magnetic field research landscape with world-leading pulsed magnetic field parameters and experimental accuracy. It has achieved a historic leap from "controlled by others" to "taught to others" by my country's high magnetic field experimental conditions.

Optimization and improvement: sending invitations to global scientific research partners

Today, this important weapon of a great power is still "growing up." The pulsed high magnetic field experimental device optimization and upgrading project is one of the first major national science and technology infrastructure projects launched in the country during the 14th Five-Year Plan. It mainly develops 110T ultra-strong magnetic field, 70T flat-top pulsed magnetic field and 9.5T superconducting pulse composite magnetic field, and supports the construction of three single buildings. After completion, it will provide public and open extreme experimental conditions for multidisciplinary interdisciplinary research.

The project has progressed rapidly since it started in August 2024: in June 2025, it achieved a flat-top pulse magnetic field of 71.36 Tesla, completing one of the three core magnetic field indicators; in February 2026, the main structure of the infrastructure project was capped. In July 2026, the project's 2026 annual process management meeting will be held.

At the opening ceremony of this year's Zhongguancun Forum, the "Open Science International Cooperation Action Plan" was officially released, opening and sharing ten major scientific research infrastructures to the world, and the pulsed high magnetic field experimental device was among them. This facility is providing a world-class experimental environment for multidisciplinary basic research and key technology research, and sincerely invites global scientific research partners.

From the teachers and students who are still "chasing magnetism" during the National Day holiday to the magnetic field parameters that continue to set world records, the National Pulsed High Magnetic Field Science Center is accelerating to build the world's largest and most internationally influential Pulsed High Magnetic Field Science Center.