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Physicists from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Chalmers University of Technology have developed a method called magnetic omniconversion. This technique allows a single magnetic source, such as a coil or permanent magnet, to be transformed into various predetermined shapes with exact mathematical precision. Witlef Wieczorek, a professor at Chalmers University, describes this as a universal method that removes previous limitations on how accurately an existing field can be reshaped.

Previously, creating specific magnetic fields required custom-built magnets or large systems of coils optimized for individual applications. Fabian Resare, a Ph.D. student at Chalmers, explains that while coil combinations can approximate a desired field to high precision, magnetic omniconversion generates a field that is mathematically exact. The process acts like a magnetic sculptor by combining materials that attract or repel fields, such as ferromagnetic and superconducting materials, arranged in carefully calculated geometries.

To test the method, researchers built a prototype using a superconducting aluminum tube and cast-iron components manufactured by Lars Jönsson. When cooled below one kelvin, the device successfully transformed a nonuniform field from a simple coil into an almost perfectly uniform field. The team has filed a patent application for this technology, which they hope will advance instrumentation for quantum technologies and other areas requiring precise spatial control of magnetic fields.