On 19 December, the first award ceremony of the Vyzov National Prize for future technologies took place in Moscow. Deputy Director of the Laboratory of High Energy Physics for Scientific Work, Candidate of Technical Sciences Hamlet Khodzhibagiyan won the Prize in the Engineering Solution category. The scientists received the Prize for the development of magnetic systems based on high-temperature superconductors for charged particle accelerators and ultrahigh power energy storage devices. The co-authors of the work are Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Grigory Trubnikov and Head of the VBLHEP High-Temperature Superconducting Magnets Sector, Candidate of Technical Sciences Mikhail Novikov.

The scientific committee of the Prize highly appreciated the contribution of the JINR team to the implementation of breakthrough technologies that opened up the possibility of developing high-temperature superconducting magnets for charged particle accelerators and megawatt energy storage devices. For the first time in the world, the design and manufacturing technology of a unique cable were developed that allows to make windings with a bending radius of 40 mm and a current of tens of thousands of amperes. The effect of increasing the critical current of HTSC tapes up to three times in magnetic fields at temperatures of 50 K – 80 K was obtained using pinning centres by irradiating the tapes with protons and ions. A design has been developed for connecting the ends of HTSC cables with a transition resistance of only a few nanoohms at a current of 10 kA – 15 kA and a temperature of 30 K – 65 K. The composition of the epoxy compound has been selected to ensure long-term stability and optimal cooling conditions for the winding, others.

HTSC magnets will be used for accelerators when upgrading the magnetic system of the Nuclotron and in future cyclotrons for the treatment of oncological diseases. A powerful energy storage device based on an HTSC magnet will find application not only in high energy physics, but also in modern and future vehicles, in facilities with renewable energy sources and in other areas.

Commenting on the Prize ceremony, Hamlet Khodzhibagiyan emphasized that for him this event means recognition of work on the development of superconducting magnets at JINR by the scientific community. “Recognition of the results of his work is very important for every person. Science is a process that requires time, effort and great expense. If a mason can see the result of his work every day, tracking how the wall of a house under construction grows, then the results of creative work are not visible every day. And the path from the first proposal to the embodiment of the idea into an operating facility can last several years,” the winner noted.

The scientist added that the magnets manufactured at the factory of superconducting magnets at VBLHEP JINR are intended for use primarily in charged particle accelerators, but not only. The project on HTSC magnets involves the development of an energy storage device that will be used in “green” energy, accumulating the energy of solar panels and wind devices. The same technology allows to make medical proton cyclotrons for oncology treatment more economical in the use of electricity.

The scientific committee of the Prize included Scientific Leader of the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Oganessian and Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, co-chairman of the JINR Scientific Council Sergey Kilin.

“The Prize has revived interest in modern scientific and technological progress and attracts the youth. I want to assure you that there are more than four heroes,” Yuri Oganessian commented, emphasizing that the Prize is presented in four categories.

“Science and the people that do it are the heroes of our time. The level of the winners of the Vyzov Prize is world-class. It is aimed at visioning and solving the problems of the future,” Sergey Kilin noted.