Patent ID: 7368911

Claim:
A method for testing a new superconductor by charging an actively shielded magnet coil configuration that is short-circuited during operation via a superconducting main switch, the magnet coil configuration having a standard desired current in superconducting persistent mode, wherein the magnet coil configuration has at least one first and one second partial region, the method comprising steps of: a) replacing a standard superconductor in the first partial region with the new superconductor, the new superconductor having a current carrying capacity in this first partial region which is somewhat higher than that of the standard superconductor; b) charging and superconducting short-circuiting the first and the second partial regions in such a manner that, at an end of a charging procedure, a non-negligible current difference is established between the first and second partial regions, with a higher current being present in the new superconductor, wherein the standard desired current of the magnet coil configuration in the second partial region is not exceeded; and c) measuring a time change of a magnetic field drift using an NMR probe in a center of the magnet coil configuration to characterize the new superconductor.