REBCO Conductor Technology
Hyperion's magnets use REBCO high-temperature superconducting tape, which carries current at high field where low-temperature superconductors cannot.
Why REBCO
REBCO stands for rare-earth barium copper oxide, a high-temperature superconductor manufactured as a thin coated tape. Its defining property for fusion is that it retains high critical current at very high magnetic field, well beyond where conventional low-temperature superconductors like Nb3Sn quench. Reaching a 16.84 T peak field on the conductor in a compact spherical tokamak is what makes REBCO the enabling choice.
Tape into cable into coil
Individual tapes are stacked and assembled into cables, then wound and structurally supported into coils. Because the current-carrying layer is only microns thick on a metal substrate, the mechanical design must carry large electromagnetic loads through the surrounding structure, not through the superconductor itself. Joints, insulation, and quench protection are engineered around the tape's anisotropic, brittle nature.
What it buys the machine
High-field REBCO lets Hyperion be small. The same plasma performance in a low-field machine would demand a much larger device. Operating temperature above liquid-helium range also eases the cryogenic plant. REBCO supply, joint reliability, and behavior under fusion-neutron irradiation are the practical questions the program tracks, and magnet manufacturing readiness is a gating item on the road to construction in Q2 2027.
- High-temperature superconducting coated tape
- Retains critical current at 16.84 T peak field
- Enables a compact machine; supply and irradiation are watch items
This page describes a design and simulation study, not a built machine. Construction begins Q2 2027; first-of-a-kind first tritium is targeted near 2030.