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Cool study - they made a Pb thin film and compared its superconducting properties to the recent reports on LK-99 reproduction attempts They’re hypothesizing th
by rsfern 3y ago
Cool study - they made a Pb thin film and compared its superconducting properties to the recent reports on LK-99 reproduction attempts
They’re hypothesizing that people may be getting superconducting nanocrystals embedded in maybe amorphous material. I don’t know if it’s typical to do microscopy in superconductivity research, but it would be super interesting to see more microscopic detail on what people are getting
- anonymousiam 3y agoElectron microscopy might not work. The moving electrons in the SEM or STEM would create a magnetic field that is opposed by the material, and the opposing magnetic field would affect the electrons and probably destroy any possibility of imaging.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 3y agoHeat the sample to 200C?
- anonymousiam 3y agoThat might work. I actually thought of it, but didn't mention it.
- xorbax 3y agoWhat about AFM? I don't know know if the superconductor has enough phase difference to be picked up in tapping, but who knows Has anyone produced magnetic cantilevers?
- tedsanders 3y agoYes, quite a few companies sell them. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_force_microscope https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_force_microscope
- andrewflnr 3y agoI get the idea of superconducting islands in a non-conducting matrix. What I don't understand is what thin lead films have to do with it, particularly if the superconducting island thing is well established already. What does the lead film experiment add?
- raducu 3y ago> superconducting islands in a non-conducting matrix. Can somebody who read the article and is knowledgeable in the subject please re-assure me this doesn't mean the material only forms minute super-conducting islands and that we can make wires out of this material in the future?
- adrian_b 3y agoThe material is very fragile, so even if it will be proven to be a superconductor wires are not a possible application. Nevertheless, there are many applications where it could be used as layers deposited on a rigid substrate, so something like a PCB (a small one, which does not bend) or an interconnection layer for semiconductor chips or superconducting devices like Josephson junctions may be possible.
- rsfern 3y agoit’s just a hypothesis, but they are saying that maybe the LK-99 samples people are making look like their figure 4 with tiny superconducting islands of lead That doesn’t mean we won’t be able to make wires and devices in the future. If it’s confirmed that we’re seeing real superconductivity (especially above room temperature) it’s going to drive a ton of research on finding actually good synthesis recipes to make continuous macroscopic chunks of the stuff, even if the current recipe isn’t particularly optimal
- adrian_b 3y agoLead has been used just because it is the cheapest superconductor and it is easily available everywhere. They have deposited very thin layers of lead on an insulating substrate, making the layers so thin that they became discontinuous. On such discontinuous layers they have measured a few properties and the resulting curves looked weird, somewhat similar to what has been measured on LK-99. This was published as a reply to the people who wonder why the measurements done on samples of LK-99 do not resemble those measured on bulk superconductors.