SBIR Phase I: AI-Accelerate Superconductor Discovery for High-Field Magnets

The broader/commercial impact of this SBIR Phase I project is the development of novel superconducting materials that can be easily manufactured and operate at higher temperatures than those used in today’s commercial systems. Superconductors are critical components in technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fusion energy, but current materials either require complex manufacturing process and/or ultra-cold operating temperatures limiting their widespread use. This project aims to discover materials that can reduce both cost and complexity of using superconductors. The innovation could dramatically lower the cost of MRI machines and expand their availability in underserved healthcare settings. In the energy sector, these materials could help advance the commercial viability of fusion reactors by improving magnetic confinement efficiency and vastly reducing reactor’s cost. The project addresses a long-standing challenge in a multibillion-dollar market. It also supports national interests by facilitating domestic manufacturing of advanced materials, reducing dependence on scarce resources like helium and improving energy efficiency. The technology, if successful, offers a durable competitive advantage by enabling the in-house discovery and production of new superconducting wires that outperform current market incumbents. The long-term vision includes scaling discovered materials to full wire production and integrating them into next-generation medical and energy systems. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to accelerate the discovery of next-generation superconductors using an AI-accelerated workflow. The technical challenge addressed is the discovery of new superconducting materials that are not only high-performing but also stable, synthesizable, and suitable for industrial manufacturing. The project will use a combination of advanced artificial intelligence models, first-principles simulations, and experimental synthesis to identify compounds with high superconducting transition temperatures and practical manufacturing characteristics. The research will focus on generating a large database of candidate materials, and screening them by predicting critical properties including stability, manufacturability and superconducting properties. A subset of the most promising candidates will be synthesized and experimentally characterized to assess their manufacturability and superconducting performance. The most performant candidates will be formed into a mono-filament wire. These findings will serve as a foundation for developing manufacturable wire prototypes in subsequent work. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.