LK-99: Calm Down the Hype, the Jury Is Still Out
From excitement to scientific rigor: This is a global scientific race.
Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence, and the discovery of the first room-temperature superconductor, LK-99, has sent shockwaves through the scientific community. Researchers from around the world are scrambling to verify this groundbreaking discovery, with labs working around the clock to test the limits of this incredible new material.
In a stunning development, researchers from China’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) have released 2 videos on Bilibili showcasing their successful synthesis of LK-99 crystals that can levitate through the power of the Meissner effect. The sight of these crystals hovering effortlessly in mid-air is nothing short of awe-inspiring and has left many scientists wondering if this is indeed the real deal.
In the first video, the LK-99 sample is as thin as human hair. When a neodymium iron boron magnet is slowly brought near the material from below, the sample stands up showing repulsion, indicating antimagnetism.
The second video is a supplementary experiment. When the team uses a magnet to attract the sample, there is no attraction, showing the material is not ferromagnetic. This proves the experimental product has some degree of antimagnetism.
The two videos have garnered over 740 million combined views and many comments from netizens.
However, antimagnetism is necessary but not sufficient for superconductivity. While superconductors exhibit antimagnetism, not everything antimagnetic is superconducting.
Therefore, the sample cannot yet be conclusively identified as a replicated room-temperature superconductor. Further measurements of magnetic susceptibility and resistance are needed.
A HUST team member admits the Meissner effect has only been validated on a sample a few tens of microns in size. However, electrical resistance measurements that could damage the sample have not been conducted because the team fears ruining it. Third-batch crucibles are now being made urgently to produce more samples.
Within 48 hours, a team from Southeast University also uploaded a video on the platform, showing that one of their 6 LK-99 samples displayed zero resistance at 110K under ambient pressure. In addition, they conducted a Meissner effect test and did not observe complete diamagnetism.
At this point, different labs were generating results rapidly. In less than half of a day, a new Chinese team tested and obtained almost opposite results. They did not observe zero resistance in their synthesized samples but detected magnetism similar to the “room temperature superconductor” from Korea.
As the excitement around LK-99 continues to grow, researchers from the Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science and Lawrence Berkeley are taking a closer look at the X-ray data to better understand the behavior of this remarkable material. Using density functional theory (DFT), they have come to a similar conclusion: LK-99’s superconductivity may very well be the real deal.
But this is just the beginning. Sinéad Griffin from Lawrence Berkeley has predicted a slightly different structure from LK-99 that could be even more effective, and researchers from Northwestern University in China and the Vienna University of Technology in Austria have also published preprints using DFT to confirm LK-99’s superconductivity.
Research findings are emerging non-stop. Perhaps while you are reading this, there will be countless new results.
Then in a dramatic turn of events, just as the global race to uncover the secrets of LK-99 is on, the South Korean research team demanded that their original paper be withdrawn.
In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Lee Seok-Bae, the co-first author of the first paper, said:
The paper was uploaded without the permission of other authors by Professor Kwon, and the team has applied to arXiv to withdraw the paper.
At the end of the same interview, Lee Seok-Bae also revealed: the improved research results have been submitted to a formal academic journal and will soon undergo peer review validation.
Why are we so concerned with this room-temperature superconductor? What is the hype?
Similar to the descriptions of ChatGPT, many people believe that if room temperature superconductivity is realized, it will signify the dawn of the 4th industrial revolution, and make sci-fi technologies come true. If realized, it would enable lossless electrical transmission, cheaper renewable energy, faster computing, and much more. The potential impacts on technology and society are immense.
Past failed claims of room temperature superconductivity temper expectations with skepticism. But this time, the global scientific race and intrigue around reproducing the initial alleged discovery add drama and mystery.
The world is holding its breath and watching as scientific history unfolds before our very eyes.
