LK-99 Superconductor Might Make Futuristic Levitation Dreams Come True
It works at room temperature and opens fantastic possibilities (if it actually exists).
Scientists have been talking about the LK-99 room-temperature superconductor for the past several days. To see why they are so taken with this, let's take a look at what it is exactly and how it can change the world.
First of all, what is a superconductor? Superconductors can conduct direct current electricity without energy loss when they are cooled below a critical temperature. They expel magnetic fields as they transition to the superconducting state. In contrast, conductors' resistance decreases gradually as their temperature is lowered.
A team of physicists published a paper called The First Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductor. The superconductor works at ambient pressure with a modified lead-apatite (LK-99) structure and can potentially open new horizons in many different fields.
"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."
Scientists have been trying to create a perfect superconductor for a long time, that's why this paper attracted so much attention. Why is it cool? Well, there are many reasons, but just imagine if you didn't need a cooling system for your CPU as it didn't waste electricity. As Tom's Hardware pointed out, it would mean almost perfectly efficient computing.
Andrew Cote explains why this research is a big deal here.
The same researchers (plus some) also published another paper, saying LK-99 shows levitation at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. I think you can imagine how this can influence all kinds of research.
"We analyze that the possibility of room-temperature superconductivity in this material is attributed to two factors: the first being the volume contraction resulting from an insulator-metal transition achieved by substituting Pb with Cu, and the second being on-site repulsive Coulomb interaction enhanced by the structural deformation in the one-dimensional(D) chain (Pb2-O1/2-Pb2 along the c-axis) structure owing to superconducting condensation at Tc."
Now, scientists are skeptical but are trying to replicate the work, so stay tuned. If it works out, it could be the biggest breakthrough of the past decades that can improve computing, AI, and any field connected with electricity. Maybe we will even see the cars and hoverboards from Back to the Future soon.
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