Summary of events so far: The claim: Room temp (~300K) superconductor exists and we got it! The replication attempts: The production method is so poorly documented only a fraction of the samples being made shows any interesting properties. And among those interesting ones, results varies. Very few, if any, attempt actually completely shows the entire spectrum of properties and behaviors of a true superconductor at ro…
Most papers are so bad its nearly impossible to replicate the synthesis.
Observation of zero resistance above 100 K in Pb₁₀₋ₓCuₓ(PO₄)₆O
201–210 of 389 posts
Re: Observation of zero resistance above 100 K in Pb₁₀₋ₓCuₓ(PO₄)₆O
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
We'll probably know for sure within the month!
Somewhat disappointed the russian twitter anon isn't included, since they seem to have made the first replication attempt that might have panned out.
I wonder why she's not included in the Wikipedia article. /s
Re: Observation of zero resistance above 100 K in Pb₁₀₋ₓCuₓ(PO₄)₆O
#203Summary of events so far: The claim: Room temp (~300K) superconductor exists and we got it! The replication attempts: The production method is so poorly documented only a fraction of the samples being made shows any interesting properties. And among those interesting ones, results varies. Very few, if any, attempt actually completely shows the entire spectrum of properties and behaviors of a true superconductor at ro…
With my conspiracy theory hat on, perhaps the authors were encouraged/coerced to not release proper documentation to reproduce the recipe entirely by [their bosses, state agencies etc.] If the claims are true, then the implications to defense, weaponry and such are very high, and the C |N |D* agencies like to not lose their cards in the game.. /conspiracy Or Real science is just darned difficult, and the scientists a…
So I would expect eventually good samples to turn up elsewhere as many groups are working on this, but it can take a lot of time. Especially as no one knows what exactly was different about the Korean samples.
Re: Observation of zero resistance above 100 K in Pb₁₀₋ₓCuₓ(PO₄)₆O
#204For comparison, per this Wikipedia page ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-temperature_superconducti... ) currently, the highest temperature, ambient pressure superconductor is around 138 K (−135 °C). I'm no expert but based on my limited understanding, this result (if confirmed) while far from room temperature would still make LK99 a pretty interesting discovery in the SC world. And once a new SC like this is vali…
It means LK99 is about as good as the other materials, at minimum. However, its chemical composition is different than any of the other materials on the chart (i.e. it is lead based). That probably means there's lots to learn and new phenomena to be understood and optimized.
Furthermore, if this lab could achieve these results in a matter of weeks, perhaps labs with more exotic equipment and dedication will be able to get better results, raising the bar even higher.
Re: Observation of zero resistance above 100 K in Pb₁₀₋ₓCuₓ(PO₄)₆O
#205> In conclusion, we successfully synthesized the compound Pb10-xCux(PO4)6O, and observed the zero resistance above 100 K. However, the Meissner effect has not been observed yet in our samples, which suggests that the superconducting volume is relatively low. In conclusion, ... nothing?
It's definitely something, rather big something, to observe zero resistance above 100k
But with how difficult the samples production seems to be, maybe we will get 400 K superconductors still
Re: Observation of zero resistance above 100 K in Pb₁₀₋ₓCuₓ(PO₄)₆O
#206I'm very much conservative about this paper because while the graph in Fig. 3a says $T_c^{zero}$ being 110 K, the "zero" resistance is actually only 1e-5 Ω (!) and even if the sample is possibly superconducting its critical temperature would be much lower than 110 K anyway. I'm aware of the difficulty in obtaining larger samples, but the label in that graph is really misleading regardless.
The resistance curve stopped at 1e-5 Ω because it has nearly reached the resolution limit of their instrument. Using 4-wire Kelvin sensing, the measurement current was 1 mA, the voltage read-out across the material was around 1 to 10 nanovolts - this is around the scale that some of the world's best general-purpose voltmeters can measure down to. The authors assumed that the negligible voltage drop, combined with the…
Re: Observation of zero resistance above 100 K in Pb₁₀₋ₓCuₓ(PO₄)₆O
#207Looking at the key temperature-resistivity graphs, this feels like the data doesn't support the conclusion that there's a superconductor here. The temperature-resistivity graphs of superconductors I've seen all have a fairly steep cutoff--a sharp, vertical line at critical temperature. The log-scale here complicates my intuition, but what I see is a gradual transition into noise range. Also, the graphs I've seen have…
https://nitter.net/condensed_the/status/1686895266329174016 claims a linear representation of the same data. Still no convincing discontinuity visible.
Re: Observation of zero resistance above 100 K in Pb₁₀₋ₓCuₓ(PO₄)₆O
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
We'll probably know for sure within the month!
Somewhat disappointed the russian twitter anon isn't included, since they seem to have made the first replication attempt that might have panned out.
Re: Observation of zero resistance above 100 K in Pb₁₀₋ₓCuₓ(PO₄)₆O
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
The biggest near future tech for superconductors: fusion power. One huge area of exploration for fusion power is tokamok reactor design, which requires a very strong magnetic field to confine plasma within a round shape - typically a torus, though I think I read of one spherical shell. I suppose these don't necessarily need room temperature super conductors, but cheaper and easier to manufacture superconducting mater…
I think energy storage, motors / accelerators and weapons would come first. A superconducting linear motor would probably also make for a great cannon.
I am sure defense folks would have a field day with new sensors with virtually no thermal noise.
Re: Observation of zero resistance above 100 K in Pb₁₀₋ₓCuₓ(PO₄)₆O
#210Summary of events so far: The claim: Room temp (~300K) superconductor exists and we got it! The replication attempts: The production method is so poorly documented only a fraction of the samples being made shows any interesting properties. And among those interesting ones, results varies. Very few, if any, attempt actually completely shows the entire spectrum of properties and behaviors of a true superconductor at ro…
> Worst case scenario, we got another class of high temp (warmer than liquid nitrogen but cold enough that applications are limited) superconductor but nothing revolutionary since at this point, it is pretty conclusive that there is something interesting with LK-99. I don't think that's the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is that there is actually nothing interesting with LK-99, and everything we've seen…
HN is supposed to have a high signal-to-noise for comments. I'm skeptical about this. I think it's the modern Pons + Fleishmann, but I won't post that on every thread because it contributes nothing. There's more insightful, and interesting comments about chemistry than anything I can write that would add to the discussion.