Superconductors made by Faraday Factory helped to achieve first plasma in a levitated dipole fusion prototype

Faraday Factory Japan, the world’s largest manufacturer of high-temperature superconductors, announces that its superconductor tape was successfully used to build magnets for a novel fusion prototype that has recently achieved first plasma

TOKYO, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Faraday Factory Japan supplied high temperature superconductor tape for magnet coils used in OpenStar’s magnet prototype with a unique engineering design. On its path to proving the levitated dipole technology, New Zealand-based fusion power developer OpenStar Technologies built a machine with a battery-powered HTS dipole magnet inside. This superconducting magnet named ‘Junior’, suspended with a magnetic force within a vacuum chamber, maintains an external plasma, which will serve as a media for the fusion reaction to happen. The levitated dipole design eases many of the engineering constraints but requires that its energy source operates onboard the magnet, unattached to the walls of the vacuum chamber.

In October 2024, OpenStar Technologies produced a 300,000°C plasma inside its demonstration device and successfully sustained it for 20 seconds.

Fusion power is a long-sought technology with the potential to decouple energy from resource constraints. Engineering barriers like creating strong magnetic fields confining extremely hot plasma must be overcome in order to enable commercially viable power generation technology. Magnet coils made from high temperature superconductors have proven to be the enabling game-changer for this tough-tech. It’s important to note that the development of OpenStar Technologies‘ first machine took place at an extraordinary fast pace of 2 years on a budget of only $10 million. This important technology validation step was made possible for many reasons, last but not least due to availability of high temperature superconductor tape.

Faraday Factory Japan has been offering market-leading high temperature superconductor products since its start in 2011. A new factory in Zama (Kanagawa, Japan) has an annual output of over 2,500 km, contributing to keeping the fusion industry on a fast track to abundant, reliable and clean fusion power.

Faraday Factory Japan is the world’s largest manufacturer of high-temperature superconductors. The company started to operate its new production facility in 2024.

OpenStar Technologies was founded in 2021 in Wellington, New Zealand. Founder and CEO, Ratu Mataira, assembled an elite founding team to revive the levitated dipole concept. OpenStar has since achieved significant milestones in rapid time.