Bitter electromagnet [SEP] named after
Bitter electromagnet
A Bitter electromagnet or Bitter solenoid is a type of electromagnet invented in 1933 by American physicist Francis Bitter used in scientific research to create extremely strong magnetic fields. Bitter electromagnets have been used to achieve the strongest continuous manmade magnetic fields on earth―up to 45 teslas, .
Advantages.
Bitter electromagnets are used where extremely strong fields are required. The iron cores used in conventional electromagnets saturate, and are limited to fields of about 2 teslas. Superconducting electromagnets can produce stronger magnetic fields but are limited to fields of
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and continued to consult for Westinghouse.
Career at MIT.
Bitter joined the Department of Mining and Metallurgy as an associate professor in 1934. (The department is now known as Materials Science and Engineering.)
While at MIT, he developed the Bitter electromagnet which was/is the most powerful electromagnet design. He established a magnet laboratory in 1938, where he built a solenoid magnet that produced a constant field of 100,000 gauss (10 teslas).
He also did work in the