Halbach array

The flux diagram of a Halbach array
A Halbach array, showing the orientation of each piece's magnetic field. This array would give a strong field underneath, while the field above would cancel.

A Halbach array (German: [ˈhalbax]) is a special arrangement of permanent magnets that augments the magnetic field on one side of the array while cancelling the field to near zero on the other side.[1][2] This is achieved by having a spatially rotating pattern of magnetisation.

The rotating pattern of permanent magnets (on the front face; on the left, up, right, down) can be continued indefinitely and have the same effect. The effect of this arrangement is roughly similar to many horseshoe magnets placed adjacent to each other, with similar poles touching.

This magnetic orientation process replicates that applied by a magnetic recording tape head to the magnetic tape coating during the recording process. The principle was further described by James (Jim) M. Winey of Magnepan in 1970, for the ideal case of continuously rotating magnetization, induced by a one-sided stripe-shaped coil.[3]

The effect was also discovered by John C. Mallinson in 1973, and these "one-sided flux" structures were initially described by him as a "curiosity", although at the time he recognized from this discovery the potential for significant improvements in magnetic tape technology.[4]

Physicist Klaus Halbach, while at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory during the 1980s, independently invented the Halbach array to focus particle accelerator beams.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Halbach1980 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Halbach1985 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Electromagnetic Transducer, James Winey, Figure 29; United States Patent 3,674,946, filed Dec. 23, 1970". www.espacenet.com.
  4. ^ Mallinson J.C. (1973). "One-Sided Fluxes — A Magnetic Curiosity?". IEEE Transactions on Magnetics. 9 (4): 678–682. Bibcode:1973ITM.....9..678M. doi:10.1109/TMAG.1973.1067714.
  5. ^ "Magnetically levitated train takes flight | US Department of Energy Science News | EurekAlert! Science News". www.eurekalert.org. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.