Have a friend who works in superconductivity and from what they say this is pretty standard - the way experimental superconductors are generally created is by s

Have a friend who works in superconductivity and from what they say this is pretty standard - the way experimental superconductors are generally created is by spraying atoms onto a film over and over until you get one that works [< 10% success rate is common]. There are other ways to do it more reliably and in larger quantities once you have a confirmed superconductor, but they're also slower during the experimental stage.