Insulated superconducting magnet

Insulative coatings and co-wound quench detection sensors in superconducting magnets address long charging/discharging times and quench detection issues, improving efficiency and safety by reducing conductive paths and enabling faster operations.

WO2026050493A1PCT designated stage Publication Date: 2026-03-05COMMONWEALTH FUSION SYSTEMS LLC
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Patent Information

Application Number
PCT/US2025/043936
Authority / Receiving Office
WO · WO
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2024-08-29
Filing Date
2025-08-28
Publication Date
2026-03-05

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Abstract

An insulated magnet may have a structural support including plates separated by partitions. The structural support may be coated with an insulating material. One or more quench detection HTS tapes may be co-wound with the a primary HTS tape that carries a current to produce a magnetic field for the magnet.
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Description

INSULATED SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNET CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No.63 / 688,398, filed August 29, 2024, entitled “QUENCH DETECTION FOR SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS AND SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND

[0002] Powerful magnets are needed to produce strong magnetic fields for a variety of applications. SUMMARY

[0003] Some aspects relate to a magnet assembly for generating a high strength magnetic field, the magnet assembly comprising: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ a structural support configured to support a plurality of turns of the first HTS tape, the structural support having an insulative coating, wherein the first HTS tape is wound between an outer diameter of the structural support and an inner diameter of the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ a quench detection (QD) sensor configured as a co-wound layer, the QD sensor including: a ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ an insulative casing around the second HTS tape to electrically insulate the second HTS tape.

[0004] Some aspects relate to a magnet assembly for generating a high strength magnetic field, the magnet assembly comprising: a structural support configured to support a plurality of turns of a first high temperature superconductor (HTS) tape, the structural support including one or more inner partitions disposed between an inner diameter of the structural support and an outer d^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ an insulative coating disposed on the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ the first HTS tape wound between the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ a quench detection (QD) sensor configured as a co-wound layer between two or more turns of the first HTS tape such that the QD sensor electrically insulates the two or more turns from one another, the QD sensor including: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^d an insulative casing around ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ an inner diameter #14320244v2terminal disposed at the inner diameter of the structural support and electrically coupled the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^d an outer diameter terminal disposed at the outer diameter of the structural support and electrically coupled to the first HTS tape.

[0005] Some aspects relate to a magnet assembly comprising: a high temperature ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ a structural support configured to support a plurality of turns of the HTS tape, wherein the HTS tape is wound between an outer diameter of the structural ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ an electrically insulating material that impedes current flow between turns of the HTS tape.

[0006] Some aspects relate to a magnet assembly comprising: a high temperature ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ a structural support configured to support a plurality of turns of the HTS tape, wherein the HTS tape is wound between an outer diameter of the structural support and an inner diameter of the structural support, wherein the structural support includes an electrically insulating material that impedes current flow between turns of the HTS tape. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] FIG.1A illustrates a cross-sectional perspective view of an illustrative structural support, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein.

[0008] FIG.1B illustrates an exploded view of the illustrative structural support, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein.

[0009] FIGs.1C-1E depict various configurations of a feedthrough slit in a structural partition, according to some embodiments.

[0010] FIG.2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a magnet assembly, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein.

[0011] FIG.3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a superconducting magnet between an inner diameter and an outer diameter of a magnetic pancake, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein.

[0012] FIG.4 illustrates a general schematic of a quench detection circuit for a non- insulated magnet comprising three non-insulated primary windings disposed in a cryostat, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein.

[0013] FIGS.5A and 5B show embodiments of co-windings with insulated HTS tape.2 #14320244v2DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] Aspects of the technology described herein are directed to systems and techniques for improving the charging / discharging time for superconductor magnet assemblies. The charging / discharging time for superconductor magnet assemblies may be improved by reducing or eliminating current conducting paths that bypass the superconductor current path. To reduce current conducting paths that bypass the superconductor path, insulative coatings made of an insulating material may be incorporated into the magnet assemblies to electrically insulate components of the magnet assembly from the superconductor path.

[0015] Superconductors are materials that have no electrical resistance to current (are “superconducting”) below a critical temperature. For many superconductors, the critical temperature is below 30°K, and such a superconductor is referred to herein as a Low Temperature Superconductor (LTS). Operation of LTS materials in a superconducting state requires significant cooling, such as with liquid helium. A superconductor for which the critical temperature can be above 30°K is referred to herein as a High Temperature Superconductor (HTS). A superconductor can also transition to a non-superconducting state for reasons not solely dependent upon temperature, as the transition point (the conditions under which a superconductor transitions to a non-superconducting state) is a function of several factors including temperature, current and magnetic field, for example. For purposes of this disclosure, the detection of such a transition is of interest, while the precise reason a superconductor transitions from a superconducting to a non-superconducting state is less significant.

[0016] Due to the ability of superconductors to carry a high current without resistance, superconductors are often used to construct high-field magnets. Such magnets may, for example, carry current greater than 5 kA and may create magnetic fields of 1-10 T or more. A high-field superconducting magnet often includes multiple turns grouped in a multi-layer arrangement. The turns may have one or more HTS tapes stacked together. When the superconducting material is cold enough to be below its critical temperature the current can pass through the superconducting path without losses. However, for various reasons, some or all of the superconducting material may be heated to above its critical temperature and3 #14320244v2therefore may result in a loss of its superconducting characteristics in the heated region. The region through which the superconducting characteristics are lost is referred to as a normal zone.

[0017] The heating and subsequent formation of a normal zone leads to expansion of the normal zone and loss of superconductive properties across the magnet. The loss of superconductive properties across the magnet is often referred to as a “quench.” Moreover, if the quench is not properly addressed by the system (e.g., by shutting down), components can be damaged by the heating and generated forces.

[0018] Non-insulative (NI) magnets, also referred to as a no-insulation (NI) magnet, may provide some degree of passive quench protection. In NI magnets, adjacent superconducting turns of the magnet are not insulated from one another but are instead separated by a conventional conductor (e.g., not a superconductor). Accordingly, when the magnet is operating below the superconductor’s critical temperature, current flows through the superconductor and not across turns because the superconductor provides a current path having zero resistance compared with the finite resistance of the conductor that lies between the turns. However, the formation of the normal zone results in a change of the current path from the superconductor path to the conventional conductor to bypass the normal zone between adjacent superconducting portions of the superconductor path. The change of the current path reduces the heating of the normal zone by instead heating a larger volume within the magnet.

[0019] The inventors have recognized and appreciated that NI magnets may provide some drawbacks when used for some applications. For example, many commercial applications may require fast, on the order of minutes or even seconds, charging / discharging times. One such drawback of NI magnets is the long charging, and discharging, times to get the magnets up to, and down from, a set field strength. For example, the charging / discharging time may be on the order of many hours. The long charging / discharging times arise from the conventional conductive paths present in the NI magnet that enable current to bypass the superconductor path.

[0020] Another drawback of the NI design is that the long discharge times makes fast current discharge in the case of a quench excessively difficult. When the superconductor loses its superconducting properties and forms a normal zone, a portion of the current4 #14320244v2deviates from the superconductor path and bypasses the normal zone through the conventional conductor (e.g., through a bypass path). The current through the conventional conductor generates heat, which can itself cause heating of the superconductor and precipitate further normal zones. At that time, virtually all the current is transferred into the conventional conductor, overheating the superconductor further, dropping the current and field in the superconductor path until the current and field drop to zero. Once the current and field drop to zero, the stored electromagnetic energy has been converted into heat. NI magnets with relatively low current density (stored electromagnetic energy relative to its volumetric density) tend to recover from such quenches without degradation. However, quenches in high field and high energy magnets may result in irrecoverable local damage.

[0021] The inventors have recognized and appreciated that, while insulated magnets – with conductive paths separated by insulating material – provide faster charging / discharging relative to NI magnets, insulated magnets present other challenges. Challenges associated with insulated magnets include providing reliable quench detection systems and dealing with high voltages during quench related current dump. During current dump, fast discharge of the magnet involves current dump on an external dump resistor.

[0022] The inventors have further recognized and appreciated that by applying insulative coatings to electrically insulate the structural components of the magnet assembly – to eliminate or at least significantly reduce the conductive paths for bypassing the superconductor – the charging / discharging time can be faster. In some embodiments, the insulative coatings are applied between the structural support components of the magnet and the superconductor path. Accordingly, the charging / discharging times may be reduced to levels beneficial for commercial applications. Additionally, to provide reliable quench detection, a quench detection sensor based on an insulated superconducting tape (e.g., a tape stack) may be co-wound with the superconductor path to provide reliable quench detection for the magnet assembly with the insulative coatings. In some embodiments, the co-wound quench detection sensor provides turn-to-turn insulation between turns of the superconductor path such that the co-wound quench detection sensor together with the insulative coatings may completely insulate each turn of the superconductor path both locally and globally (e.g., across the system). In other embodiments, an insulated magnet may not have a co-wound quench detection sensor, and for an insulated magnet an insulative coating may insulate turns5 #14320244v2from one another. The insulative coatings may be conformal coatings. Such conformal coatings may be applied in a suitable deposition process (e.g., spray coating, plasma-assisted deposition, chemical vapor deposition, or physical vapor deposition).

[0023] In some embodiments, the electrically insulating quench detection sensor is co- wound between two or more adjacent windings of the HTS tape, such that the quench detection sensor electrically insulates the two or more adjacent windings of the HTS tape. In some embodiments, the quench detection sensor is co-wound between all the windings of the HTS tape, such that each of the turns is insulated from the respective adjacent turns of the HTS tape.

[0024] In some embodiments, the one or more terminals include an insulative coating disposed on an outer surface of the one or more terminals such that the one or more terminals is electrically insulated from the structural support. The one or more terminals may include an inner terminal disposed at an inner diameter of the structural support. Alternatively, or additionally, the one or more terminals may include an outer terminal disposed at an outer diameter of the structural support.

[0025] In some embodiments, the quench detection sensor includes a superconductor (e.g., HTS tape) extending from a first quench detection terminal of the sensor to a second quench detection terminal of the sensor, and an insulative casing configured around the HTS tape to electrically insulate the HTS tape.

[0026] In some embodiments, the insulative coating is a structural stable metal oxide. For example, the insulative coating may be aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, zinc oxide or a combination thereof (e.g., alumina titania). In some embodiments, the insulative coating may be a metal nitride or oxynitride. For example, the insulative coating may be aluminum nitride. In some embodiments, the insulative coating may be an organic material. However, these are examples, and other insulative coating materials may be used.

[0027] FIG.1A illustrates a cross-sectional perspective view of a pancake for a magnet including an illustrative structural support 100, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein, with the HTS tape being omitted in FIG.1A to better illustrate the structural support 100. The structural support 100 may be circular and may include circular grooves and circular partitions arranged within the grooves. The pancake includes a HTS tape wound in the plane of the pancake (e.g., the plane perpendicular to the center z axis6 #14320244v2of FIG.1A). The HTS tape is wound such that when current flows through the HTS tape, a magnetic field is generated along the direction of the center axis. The pancake may be used in a magnet assembly, such as the magnet assembly described below in connection with FIG.2, for generating high strength magnetic fields. In the example of FIG.1, the structural support 100 for a pancake includes upper plate 103, lower plate 104, and partitions 110, 112, and 114. The pancake also includes an inner diameter joint 106 and an outer diameter joint 108. The spaces between the partitions into which HTS tape may be wound includes spaces 120, 122, 124, and 126. Although the partitions 110, 112 and 114 are shown as circular, in other embodiments they may have other shapes, such as an oval or racetrack shape, for example.

[0028] The partitions 110, 112 and 114 may reduce hoop strains accumulated in the HTS tape over multiple turns when exposed to high Lorentz forces. The partitions 110, 112, and 114 may be nestled in slots or grooves formed in the top and bottom structural plates 103 and 104, as described further below in connection with FIG.1B.

[0029] It may be appreciated that the number of partitions in the structural support may be adjusted. For example, the number of partitions in the structural support may be adjusted to accommodate variations in the diameter of the pancake, the materials used in the construction of the pancake and / or the materials used in the partitions themselves, the materials used in the HTS tapes (or stacks of HTS tapes), the magnitude of the material stresses for the magnet assembly configuration, the design operating temperature, the intended magnetic field during operation, the intended current density (or transport current), and / or other factors contributing the to the forces experienced by the magnet assembly components. Accordingly, although the structural support 100 includes three structural partitions 110, 112, 114, though there may be more or fewer than three partitions.

[0030] FIG.1B illustrates an exploded view of the illustrative structural support 100, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein. The exploded view shows the circular partitions and circular structural plates that include circular slots. A first partition 110 is positioned between top plate 103 and bottom plate 104 in groove 130. A second partition 112 is positioned between top plate 103 and bottom plate 104 in groove 132. A third partition 114 is positioned between top plate 103 and bottom plate 104 in groove 134. Inner diameter joint 106 is included near the center of the support structure and outer diameter joint 108 is included near the outer diameter of the support structure. In some7 #14320244v2embodiments, the first partition 110, second partition 112, and third partitions 114 may include feedthrough slits 110s, 112s, and 114s, respectively for the HTS tape to pass through the partition to another space 120, 122, 124 or 126.

[0031] FIGs.1C-1E depict various configurations of a feedthrough slit in a structural partition, according to some embodiments. Each of FIGs.1C-1E depicts a circular partition arranged within a circular slot of a structural plate. It may be appreciated that while the illustrative feedthrough slits are depicted for circular partitions and a circular slot, the same types of slit designs may also be realized in partitions of other shapes (such as rectangular), and / or may be realized in partitions that are not arranged in a slot within the structural plate.

[0032] In the example of FIG.1C, the partition includes a partial slit configuration in which the slit does not extend through the entire height of the partition. In the example of FIG.1D, the partition includes a full slit configuration in which the slit does extend through the entire height of the partition. In the example of FIG.1E, the partition includes a partial slit configuration for a partition with a spiral machined in its outside diameter, so that the partition is not purely circular but rather in the shape of a spiral of approximately one full turn. The configuration of FIG.1E may include a partition with a radially uniform thickness that is able to bear radial loads equally in all azimuthal directions. While FIG.1E depicts a partition have a spiral machined in its outer diameter, but circular in its inner diameter, another suitable configuration for a partition would have the shape of a spiral in both its inner and outer diameters. It is appreciated that other slit configurations may be used in accordance with embodiments of the concepts, techniques, and structures disclosed herein, and in particular to alleviate radial stresses.

[0033] While embodiments herein are not limited to a circular partition arranged within a circular slot, there may be an advantage to such a configuration in that the partition may be rotatable within the slot during winding of the magnet. Since the azimuthal position at which the tape needs to pass through the partition may be unknown, the circular partition and circular slot arrangement allows the partition to be rotated during winding so that the feedthrough slit in the partition is arranged at the necessary azimuthal position when the tape has filled up the space inside the partition.8 #14320244v2

[0034] In some embodiments, the HTS tape is wound in a spiral configuration around the central axis. In some embodiments, other winding configurations may be used, as aspects of the technology described herein are not limited in this respect.

[0035] FIG.2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a magnet assembly 200, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein. Magnet assembly 200 may be designed to produce a high magnetic field (e.g., 1-10 Tesla or more). In some embodiments, magnet assembly 200 includes a conduction cooled “cold mass” of multiple pancakes that have been stacked together. The stacked pancakes are electrically connected through outer diameter electrical joints 202 and inner diameter electrical joints 204. The structural support of each pancake of the stacked pancakes, retains a wound HTS tape. The HTS tape is wound in a spiral configuration between the outer diameter electrical joint and a corresponding inner diameter electrical joint. Each pancake may be electrically insulated from adjacent pancake(s).

[0036] In some embodiments, the pancakes may be assembled in pairs, such that the superconducting path for each pancake in the pair is electrically coupled at the inner diameter electrical joint. Accordingly, the assembled pair may be electrically coupled to additional pairs and / or to a power source through the outer diameter electrical joint. In some embodiments, when configured in pairs, each pair may be coated with an insulative layer, as described herein. In this configuration, the inner surface of the structural support may include an insulative layer such that the superconductor path remains insulated from the structural support.

[0037] In some embodiments, when configured in pairs, each structural support includes an insulative layer such that the structural supports in a pair are electrically insulated from one another and are electrically insulated from adjacent pairs. In some embodiments, the electrical insulative layer on the structural support is aluminum oxide. In some embodiments, the electrical insulative layer insulating pancakes from one another may be a fiberglass laminate such as G-10, for example. As another example, pancakes may be insulated from one another by a metal (e.g., copper) sheet or plate coated with an insulating material.

[0038] In the example of FIG.2, the magnet assembly 200 is coupled to transfer or otherwise remove heat through thermal conduction using a cooling apparatus at a terminal 208 that is electrically insulated from the magnet assembly by an insulator 206.9 #14320244v2

[0039] In some embodiments, the structural support (e.g., structural frame) is formed from steel. In some embodiments, the structural frame is formed of any other suitable structural material, including conductive or insulative materials which provide sufficient structural stability.

[0040] FIG.3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a pancake 300 between an inner diameter and an outer diameter of pancake 300, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein. The magnet pancake includes windings of an HTS tape 302, which may be a stack of HTS tapes, configured in a spiral configuration between outer terminal 304 and inner terminal 306, with the flat side of the HTS tape 302 facing the horizontal direction of FIG.3, perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field produced by the HTS tape 302. The spiral winding is supported by top plate 318 and bottom plate 319.

[0041] In some embodiments, the HTS tape is coated with insulative coating 316 such that the winding path of the HTS tape is electrically insulated from the structural support. In some embodiments the inner surfaces of the pancake 300 structural supports such as plates 318 and 319 and partitions 320, 322, 324 are coated with an insulative coating. The insulative coating may be applied to all surfaces of the structural supports. When coating the inner surface of the structural support, the HTS tape may be non-insulated. In some embodiments, turn-to-turn insulation between turns of the HTS tape may be provided by insulating layers co-wound with the HTS tape. In some embodiments, the co-wound insulating layers may be part of a quench detection system. For example, the HTS tape for generating the high- strength magnetic field may be uninsulated but my be co-wound with an insulated HTS tape configured as a quench detection sensor, as described herein, thereby providing turn-to-turn insulation between layers of the HTS tape that generates the high-strength magnetic field.

[0042] The HTS tape is electrically coupled to inner terminal 306 at terminal joint 314. The HTS tape is electrically coupled to outer terminal 304 at terminal joint 312. The inner and outer terminal include an insulative coatings 310 and 308, respectively, such that the inner and outer terminals are insulated from the top plate 318 and bottom plate 319.

[0043] The structural support includes one or more partitions to support the windings around the magnetic pancake, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein. As shown in FIG.3, the area between the top plate 318 and the bottom plate 319 includes three partitions 320, 322, and 324. Each of the structural supports includes an10 #14320244v2insulative layer to electrically insulate the partitions from the HTS tape. In some embodiments, the outer surfaces of the structural support are coated with an insulative layer. For example, one or both of the top and bottom surfaces may be coated with an insulative layer.

[0044] In some embodiments, the insulative coatings on the structural support, partitions, inner and outer terminals include a layer of aluminum oxide. In some embodiments, the insulative coating on the HTS tape includes a layer of aluminum oxide. In some embodiments, the insulative coatings may be other insulative materials, such as those described herein.

[0045] FIG.4 illustrates a general schematic of a quench detection circuit for a magnet comprising three non-insulated primary windings disposed in a cryostat, in accordance with some embodiments of the technology described herein. A quench detection current IQD is supplied by a current source to the insulated co-winding via leads (e.g., copper leads), and instrumentation wires are connected to the superconducting part of the co-winding and to a Voltmeter, which measures a voltage VQD as shown.

[0046] In some embodiments, the insulated co-winding follows the turns of each of the primary winding turns of the magnet between the outer and inner terminals (the primary winding is not shown in FIG.4 for clarity), with the co-winding forming a spiral inward along the turn of the primary winding, then doubling back along itself outward along the turn of the primary winding. Although the primary winding may have more turns, only 3 turns of the insulated co-winding are shown in FIG.4 for clarity of illustration. In some embodiments, the insulated co-winding may be inserted adjacent to the outer diameter of the primary winding. In some embodiments, the insulated co-winding may be inserted adjacent to the inner diameter of the primary winding.

[0047] During normal operation of the magnet in which the primary winding is superconducting and the insulated co-winding is superconducting, the Quench Detection Voltmeter detects a zero (or close to zero) voltage. Once somewhere within the pancakes the primary winding forms a normal zone, this zone heats up a portion of the superconducting insulated co-winding. As a result, at least part of the insulated co-winding becomes normal with finite resistance, RNZ. A resistive voltage, VQD=RNZ*IQDis then measured by the Quench11 #14320244v2Detection Voltmeter. The measure voltage may be used as a trigger signal to initiate a quench mitigation process.

[0048] The co-winding may include an insulated HTS, such as a stack of HTS tapes with insulations arranged around the stack of HTS tapes. An example of such an arrangement of HTS tape and insulation is shown in FIG.5A and FIG.5B.

[0049] Having thus described several aspects of the at least one embodiment of the technologies described herein, it is to be appreciated that various alternations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

[0050] Such alternations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, though advantages of the present invention are indicated, it should be appreciated that not every embodiment of the technology described herein will include every described advantage. Some embodiments may not implement any features described as advantageous herein and in some instances one or more of the described features may be implemented to achieve further embodiments. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.

[0051] Various aspects of the present invention may be used alone, in combination, or in a variety of arrangements not specifically described in the embodiments described in the foregoing and is therefore not limited in its application to the details and arrangement of components set forth in the foregoing description or illustrated in the drawings. For example, aspects described in one embodiment may be combined in any manner with aspects described in other embodiments.

[0052] Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having,” “containing,” “involving,” and variations thereof herein, is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.12 #14320244v2

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A magnet assembly for generating a high strength magnetic field, the magnet assembly comprising: a first high temperature supercon^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ a structural support configured to support a plurality of turns of the first HTS tape, the structural support having an insulative coating, wherein the first HTS tape is wound between an outer diameter of the structural support and an inner diameter of the structural support^ a quench detection (QD) sensor configured as a co-wound layer, the QD sensor including: a second HTS tape^^^^^ an insulative casing around the second HTS tape to electrically insulate the second HTS tape.

2. The magnet assembly of claim 1, wherein the structural support includes one or more inner partitions disposed between the inner diameter of the structural support and the outer diameter of the structural support.

3. The magnet assembly of claim 2, wherein the insulative coating is disposed on the one or more inner partitions.

4. The magnet assembly of claim 1, further comprising one or more terminals electrically coupled to the first HTS tape.

5. The magnet assembly of claim 4, wherein the insulative coating is further disposed on the first HTS tape such that the first HTS tape is electrically insulated from the structural support.

6. The magnet assembly of claim 1, wherein the QD sensor is co-wound between two or more turns of the first HTS tape such that the QD sensor electrically insulates the two or more turns from one another.13 #14320244v27. The magnet assembly of claim 1, further comprising an inner diameter terminal disposed at the inner diameter of the structural support and electrically coupled to the first HTS tape.

8. The magnet assembly of claim 1, further comprising an outer diameter terminal disposed at the outer diameter of the structural support and electrically coupled to the first HTS tape.

9. The magnet assembly of claim 1, wherein the insulative coating includes an aluminum oxide material.

10. A magnet assembly for generating a high strength magnetic field, the magnet assembly comprising: a structural support configured to support a plurality of turns of a first high temperature superconductor (HTS) tape, the structural support including one or more inner partitions disposed between an inner diameter of the structural support and an outer diameter of the structural support^ an insulative coating disposed on the one or more inner partitions of the structural ^^^^^^^^ the first HTS tape wound between the outer diameter of the structural support and the inner diameter of the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ a quench detection (QD) sensor configured as a co-wound layer between two or more turns of the first HTS tape such that the QD sensor electrically insulates the two or more turns from one another, the QD sensor including: a second HTS tape^^^^^ an insulative casing around the second HTS tape to electrically insulate the second HTS tape^^^^^ an inner diameter terminal disposed at the inner diameter of the structural support and electrically coupled the first HTS tape^^^^^ an outer diameter terminal disposed at the outer diameter of the structural support and electrically coupled to the first HTS tape.

11. A magnet assembly comprising:14 #14320244v2^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ a structural support configured to support a plurality of turns of the HTS tape, wherein the HTS tape is wound between an outer diameter of the structural support and an inner diameter of the structural support^^^^^ at least one electrically insulating material that impedes current flow between turns of the HTS tape.

12. The magnet assembly of claim 11, wherein the structural support comprises a first plate and a second plate and the HTS tape is wound between the first plate and the second plate.

13. The magnet assembly of claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the structural support includes one or more inner partitions disposed between the inner diameter of the structural support and the outer diameter of the structural support.

14. The magnet assembly of claim 13, further comprising one or more slits in the one or more partitions, wherein the HTS tape passes through the one or more slits.

15. The magnet assembly of any of claims 11-14, wherein the electrically insulating material is disposed on the first plate, the second plate, the one or more inner partitions and / or the HTS tape.

16. The magnet assembly of any of claims 11-15, wherein the at least one electrically insulating material comprises a conformal coating.

17. The magnet assembly of claim 16, wherein the at least one electrically insulating material comprises a metal oxide and / or a metal nitride.

18. The magnet assembly of claim 17, wherein the metal oxide includes aluminum oxide, titanium oxide and / or zinc oxide.15 #14320244v219. A magnet assembly comprising: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ a structural support configured to support a plurality of turns of the HTS tape, wherein the HTS tape is wound between an outer diameter of the structural support and an inner diameter of the structural support, wherein the structural support includes an electrically insulating material that impedes current flow between turns of the HTS tape.

20. The magnet assembly of claim 19, wherein the electrically insulating material comprises a conformal coating.16 #14320244v2

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