Applications of yokeless flux confinement

A recently developed generalized technique for the production of large confined magnetic fields is used to design a number of novel permanent-magnet flux sources. The simplest of these produces a transverse field in a long cavity of a rectangular cross section. In such structures, uniform fields that are of the order of the remanence of the material used are obtained easily. Applications include: NMR imaging, general electron device biasing, and the provision of bases for various periodic magnetic structures, such as wigglers, undulators, and twisters. Slight elaboration of such configurations can produce fields of up to three times the remanence. The fields of such structures can be readily adjusted by mechanical means, with continuous variation from zero to the maximum field. The wigglers and twisters afford instantaneous conversion from wiggler to twister and conversely. Adaptations of the basic principles can be used to produce radial, conical, and other unusual field orientations.