A couple of week ago, a Korean Team published the paper about the creation of a room temperature superconductor:
Sukbae Lee, Ji-Hoon Kim, Young-Wan Kwon
Here is the abstract:
For the first time in the world, we succeeded in synthesizing the room-temperature superconductor (Tc≥400 K, 127∘C) working at ambient pressure with a modified lead-apatite (LK-99) structure. The superconductivity of LK-99 is proved with the Critical temperature (Tc), Zero-resistivity, Critical current (Ic), Critical magnetic field (Hc), and the Meissner effect. The superconductivity of LK-99 originates from minute structural distortion by a slight volume shrinkage (0.48 %), not by external factors such as temperature and pressure. The shrinkage is caused by Cu2+ substitution of Pb2+(2) ions in the insulating network of Pb(2)-phosphate and it generates the stress. It concurrently transfers to Pb(1) of the cylindrical column resulting in distortion of the cylindrical column interface, which creates superconducting quantum wells (SQWs) in the interface. The heat capacity results indicated that the new model is suitable for explaining the superconductivity of LK-99. The unique structure of LK-99 that allows the minute distorted structure to be maintained in the interfaces is the most important factor that LK-99 maintains and exhibits superconductivity at room temperatures and ambient pressure.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.12008
Video discusson on the Web:
Is this the Biggest Discovery of the Century? Physics has always been my favorite field of study. Everything from how planes fly, to how solar panels work… but in the quantum world, things get weird and interesting. This new breakthrough coming out of Korea has the potential to be one of the biggest breakthroughs of the CENTURY. A room temperature, ambient pressure Superconductor. So how exactly does it work, is this research legit, and why does it matter? Let’s figure this out together! Room Temperature Ambient Pressure Super Conductor Breakthrough
And an article in Futurism discussing the mania:
The news even triggered huge superconductor-related stock bumps this week, to the point that the Korea Exchange issued warnings to investors, but stopped short of halting trading, Bloomberg reports.
In short, it’s a huge deal — if it holds up. So it’s no wonder that scientists are now stumbling over themselves to recreate the material.
And the drama is only getting started. This week, more researchers have come forward claiming to have proven the material’s existence and miraculous properties — but not everybody is convinced, creating a striking public schism in the world of physics. Is everybody racing to take credit for a discovery of the century and bag a Nobel prize — or is it a colossal fool’s errand?
https://futurism.com/claim-room-temperature-superconductor-tearing-apart
Let the discussions begin.
HT/David L. Hagen, Yooper
If 127∘C is “room temperature”, why all the fear mongering about the recent ~40 degree temperatures in the Europe?
For insightful comments and tracking the LK-99 / LK99 superconductor developments see:
Andrew Cote @Andercot
” For those looking to catch up on the evolving LK-99 saga here is a quick summary of posts which I have written, all of which try to explain content in a way that is approachable for a general audience while including enough depth to be interesting to a technical audience. Three recent replications of diamagnetism in LK-99, one property of superconductors but also a property of other materials: https://twitter.com/Andercot/status/1687471084659265536?s=20
First claimed measurement of ‘zero resistance’ (authors words) in LK-99: https://twitter.com/Andercot/status/1686805961124855810?s=20
Summary of 4 different research groups simulation of LK-99’s crystal structure, with each explaining some of its quirks: https://twitter.com/Andercot/status/1686823375531057152?s=20
Here’s my from-the-hip market-sizing of applications of room-temperature superconductors based on their eventual engineering performance: https://twitter.com/Andercot/status/1686527228165963779?s=20
A deeper dive into technical applications: https://twitter.com/Andercot/status/1685088625187495936?s=20
My breakdown of the original paper that started it all: https://twitter.com/Andercot/status/1684339092635496449?s=20
And finally, why I was optimistic about the material science behind this a month before this news story broke the headlines: https://twitter.com/Andercot/statu
For 17 current papers on arxiv.org on these room temperature superconductors see papers from search for:
“date_range: from 2023-07-22 to 2023-08-06; terms: AND all=(superconductor OR superconductivity) AND “room temperature” AND (LK-99 OR LK99)”
https://arxiv.org/search/advanced?advanced=&terms-0-operator=AND&terms-0-term=%28superconductor+OR+superconductivity%29+AND+%22room+temperature%22+AND+%28LK-99+OR+LK99%29&terms-0-field=all&classification-physics_archives=all&classification-include_cross_list=exclude&date-year=&date-filter_by=date_range&date-from_date=2023-07-22&date-to_date=2023-08-06&date-date_type=submitted_date&abstracts=show&size=200&order=-announced_date_first
Some folks at Peking University claim, with plausibility, that the visible effect is just ferromagnetism.
Andrew Cote @Andercot
“LK-99: The Case for Skepticism…
Summary:
– Videos are explainable by more mundane everyday effects
– Key measurements are missing
– Simulations are nice but we don’t live in one.
~~~~~~~~~~
As I’ve said before I’m deferring any real conclusions until the results of Argonne National Lab, but right now my mental model is:
LK-99 is a diamagnetic semiconductor.”
Andrew Cote on Twitter: “LK-99: The Case for Skepticism By now there’s been a number of replications, videos, pre-prints on arxiv, and at-home or at-work attempts to reproduce the original findings of Lee and Kim. Here’s why I’m increasingly skeptical on LK-99 and my reasoning: #1 – The Videos… https://t.co/sWFwQ2fvhV” / X