Superconducting permanent magnets for high-temperature operation

LRE-Ba2Cu3Oy (LRE=light rare earth, LRE-123) bulk superconducting materials prepared by melt texturing have approached the stage of industrial applicability. The recent progress in the technology enabled levitation experiments at temperatures as high as 90.2 K (liquid oxygen) and extended the applicability of permanent magnets at 77 K (liquid nitrogen) up to fields as high as 12 Tesla. Both these achievements were reached due to novel types of pinning structure created in these materials. Here we give an overview of the present state of the art.